


Friends and Clothes fix many things

by Jj1234



Series: Chakra is not Ectoplasm (but it'll work) [1]
Category: Danny Phantom, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chakra, Ectoplasm, Gen, Gender Roles, Ghosts, Pre-Naruto Canon Era, Reincarnation, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2020-09-29 23:09:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20444105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jj1234/pseuds/Jj1234
Summary: Fearing his power, the Observants banish Danny to another world. Reborn as a "sickly" civilian girl in a village full of weirdo killers, prejudice adults, and a whole herd of outcast children, Danny- now Shimome- tries to find a new reason to live. Unbeknownst to him, his very arrival is causing changes in the entire world order.***Naruto has always felt different, and his tousan says that's okay. But even his Rama couldn't keep all the mean people away. No one ever seemed to like him, except the Very Nice Boy from the clothes shop. He was the coolest, ya'know!





	1. Lost Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important information: I am, as per fandom usual, ignoring Phantom Planet. Everything else took place up to D-Stabilized, and all happened in about one year from when he got his powers. So he is about 15 at D-Stabilized. Naruto is not going to be around for a little bit, sorry. Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Danny Phantom.

His life always seemed like such a blur whenever he tried to look back. There were key moments that always stood out, but everything after the portal always seemed to progress too fast to feel real. Danny didn’t think he had understood what was happening most of the time - which was fine, Jazz and Sam had always been there when he didn’t know how to handle things or what to do. Heck, even Tucker seemed like he had more sense than him sometimes. He knew that he never would have been able to take care of Dani or tell his parents without them or Valarie.

He’d been so scared that he was too late, that the body shaped composition of ectoplasm and bone was too far gone to be stabilized into Dani ever again. He was half right. It’d been a heart stopping miracle when the green goop stopped dripping down and slowly consolidated into a solid being. She’d lived. Just, a little differently. The reformation had hurt her, and the new body could only stand so much. Dani now looked somewhere between 5 or 7, an age between her previous physical age and her actual length of existence. A twelve year old wandering the world by themself was hard enough as is, even a twelve year old Halfa with Ghost powers. A six year old? No way.

She was _ (his) _ family. He'd tried to let her have the freedom she didn't before, tried to be okay with her being on her own, but then this happened. He'd let her leave his _ (territory _ <strike> _ lair _ </strike> ) city, where he could keep her safe, and he'd tried to convince himself that she could take care of herself. But he couldn't do it again, not with this near failure _ (keep her safe them safe _ <strike> _ prOtecTMinE _ </strike> _ ) _. Something had to change. So he'd invited her to stay, and this time he made sure she could. He'd told his parents. 

It had been… hard. They hadn’t believed him. And then they’d thought that “Phantom” was possessing him, or had replaced him for some reason. He’d run with Dani and hidden in Sam’s basement for nearly a full two weeks while the rest of their friends had talked his parents down. They were the most nerve wracking two weeks of his life, but he’d tried his best to hold it together. Dani needed him to. There were no less than three occasions where she’d tried to leave because she was “causing him trouble”, but he’d talked her down. It was actually really fun in between checkups with his friends. Sam’s basement was basically a mix between a penthouse and a mall, so Danny and Dani had spent ages talking, getting to know each other fully, hanging out, even helping each other discover more about their powers. 

Dani had explored the very limits of their flight, invisibility, and intangibility on her world tour. She’d also had tons more practice with overshadowing, and was able to figure out how to “see” the surface thoughts and memories of the person she’d overshadowed so that she could more easily pretend to be them. Danny had more practice with their ectoplasm and shaping it into shields and such, but Dani was the one to make a game of making more shapes. She really taught him more about their powers, make inquiries that Danny hadn’t even thought to try _ (was scared to question) _ . In the meantime, he taught her all the things that were, well, heartbreaking to realize she didn’t know. He taught her to read and write better, how to take care of herself, what family _ (being his) _meant. 

Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and even Valarie had visited often and happily. Val had figured it out, of course. She wasn’t stupid, and it had been a major screaming match, but it had worked out in the end. She wasn’t anywhere close to a best friend, but she cared about Dani’s well-being and didn’t want to kill him, so win-win. The real blur had been after his parents had accepted him and Dani. Tucker was able to make her papers no sweat, and they told the town that she was an adopted cousin, but they welcomed her more warmly than Danny could ever hope. There were tests, and sometimes inquiries - his parents were scientists - but it was… good. 

His mom had refused to let him and his friends out without proper training anymore, and so they spent hours each week getting their butts kicked on the mats as she taught them how to actually defend themselves rather than flail around. Sam’s parents had freaked when they found out though, even threatened to move out of town to get rid of “bad influences”. It’d been a while of loud fights and debates until they could be talked into a compromise - the Mansons stayed, Sam got to take fighting lessons and keep most of her freedom, while taking two ballet classes a week, weekend etiquette sessions with her mother, and attend one fancy money ball in a dress of her parents choosing every other month. And that was how he, Tucker, and Dani had begun taking ballet lessons with her in solidarity. Tucker quit after the first week, but the exercise, body control, and flexibility they got actually helped in their mixed martial arts with Maddie, so Sam felt that the joke was on her parents at least a little. 

It was two years of family, training, ghost fighting, and learning all sorts of new things with his friends. He spent time with Jazz on weekends when she was in college and actually listened to her once in a while. He and Sam learned all kinds of new dance styles to incorporate into their strengthening and conditioning routines, though she often complained that having a body at least partially made of flexible goop was cheating. Tucker did all the coding and hacking needed for whatever new gadget Danny managed to make with his parents. Dani grew up going to school, making friends, and experiencing a real family. Mom actually adored her. His parents helped him learn so much about his own composition, how ectoplasm was so deeply embedded in his cells, his DNA, different in some ways to even Dani. Things were so _ good _, he’d even made sorta friends with most of his old enemies. Sure, sometimes Skulker would try to hunt him or Youngblood would cause trouble, but for the most part he left them to complete their Obsessions so long as they followed the rules and didn’t hurt people.

That had been a surprise, too. The amount of things he’d learned from his fellow ghosts. Obsessions, abilities based on your power and wants, that ghosts were formed from want, will, self image, and power. That ectoplasm was so strong and could do nearly anything really, but that ghosts couldn’t because when they tried to change or be more than their obsession they so often fell apart from lack of center and will. It was fascinating to observe all these people and realise they didn’t even know how much they could have done because they had already convinced themselves they knew all they could do. Maybe that was why he was here, trapped, not even paying attention…

“-the Halfa being known as Daniel Fenton-Phantom is to be exiled from these dimensional worlds”

His obsession was gone. His family was <strike>_dead _</strike>_gone__ -_ He’d been so stupid _(_<strike>_should have PrOtecTEdtHem)_</strike> and wanted to see if he could out fly the plane to Massachusetts and check out Jazz’s new room _(makeitsafe)_ before she moved back to college for her new semester. They’d all been on the plane, Mom, Dad, Jazz, Dani, even Tuck and Sam had convinced their parents to let them go tour the campus and settle Jazz in. He’d been flying alongside the plane for take off - invisible - and he hadn’t seen the portal (_the trap)_ and now he was here. Chained and electrocuted and held down while those stupid one eyed things forced him to watch as the plane that held his family, his _world (his__<strike>OBsEssIoN</strike>)_ burn and crash and explode, and even Dani couldn’t get out when she had been sleeping when the first explosion went off from_ right under her seat_. 

“- as an entity that belongs to neither the Human nor the Ghost realms, nor ever will as the lesser Halfas shall, it has been decided that the banishment of the Phantom entity and all ectoplasmic energy that bears his will shall commence to prevent the reformation of such entity in the linked realms of Ghost and Humans.”

A thud and an odd cutting-sucking sensation occured as the one eyed creeps began to chant. He felt and saw a veritable whirlpool of ectoplasm forming on the engraved and glowing ground beneath where his cage was hung. The council like assembly of eyeballs had called themselves Observants or something, they’d said his family was meant to die, that Ghosts did not interfere with death, that he _ couldn’t save them and he’d rip them to bits and drops until they couldn’t even think of reforming for it. _ The floor- if it could even be called that anymore- beneath him was a genuine whirlpool of green and blue ectoplasm in all shades, shining in a funnel down and down, seemingly forever. _ Chink _ as his cage floor dropped out and _ buzz _ as the electricity was cut. Danny tried to fly up, to the monsters who stole from him ( _ hewas _ <strike> _ aPRoteCtoR _ </strike> _ ) _ , but he couldn’t. With every inch he flew up, the vortex pulled him down two. He wanted to rend them, to make them bleed and hurt and empty the way he felt, but all he could feel was the pull of the vortex made of ectoplasm that felt like _ his _ and hear the chanting rattling his bones and core as the smell of electricity and dead life pervaded everything. His last view of the monster who took his world ( _ corefamily _ <strike> _ obsession _ </strike> _ ) _ was of glaring faces, and above them, a staffed figure with red eyes glowing under a purple hood. Then the vortex- portal- swallowed him and he _ burned _.

*****

Clockwork signed wearily as the ritual portal closed. Around him, the Observants seemed too shocked to even feel victorious or smug.

“What was tha- CLOCKWORK!” one of them screamed. “You said the ritual was the only truly inconsequential way to rid our worlds of the danger Phantom presented once his natural obsession was gone! Explain this!”

“You wanted Danny gone in some capacity because of his state as a true, immortal Halfa rather than a Halfling that will become a Ghost upon death. You wanted the means to ensure every last bit of ectoplasm bearing his imprint or technically belonging to him to be crippled and stripped of every form but his base will and then transported to another realm where there was no ectoplasm and no way back. I gave you these. I explained it in detail when you Ordered me to. What else must be extrapolated on?” he said with a flat tone and straight, unimpressed face.

“We wanted him away, preferably before his loss of obsession drove him insane, but we didn’t expect him to take so much raw ectoplasm with him! Half the energy from Pariah’s Keep, portions of the Far Frozen, not to mention every last drop of ectoplasm in Amity Park and the surrounding areas! The one place in the Human realm so saturated with natural ectoplasm that Ghosts could practically live there as they do in the Zone! Gone! Because you chose the wro-”

“**I DID NOT.** ” Silence rung from the aging beings declaration as he turned and glared at the foolish ones who thought themselves better than they were. “I think you’ll find that I was against this. That I was the one to inform you that any and all attempts to simply kill the boy, by physical or such forbidden means as Deliberate Obsession Destruction, would fail to do anything but make him rage and raze the world _ again. _ I informed you that his unique state of being meant his obsessions could be lessened and shifted to prevent the damage inevitable with such mortal talismans. Much as it sickened me, I even showed you how much use he could be if he could be persuaded to consider the Ghost Zone anything approximating a home, and _ you _ all were the ones who stuck your noses up. _ You _were the ones who refused to be anything but power grabbing cowards, so much that you used your last Order on me to ensure he could never return home or even live a full life with his family. But it is done, and the Wager complete. And neither Time nor it’s Master will bend to you ever again.”

Turning away… Turning away was complicated. Away from the Observants, from the beings who he had one taken pity on as remnants of a lost time, a lost people and then “lost” two Orders to in a Wager. He’d expected them to rewind time and get their people back, and then a standing Order to ensure time and history never truly forgot them or let them die out. But no, they hadn’t wanted to save their people. 

They wanted to be immortal, to have the power to make decisions that could change the world and keep something like it from happening again. So they became the Observants, and time and again they spread the word that they had a say over time, that they could Order him, and he could not refute it. So their power grew in the Zone, and so did their egos and pride. They continued to act as if they could tell him what to do at any time, and for ages he tried to appease them to keep balance, but they just wanted the status quo to stay. So when Halfas came about, humans with Ghostly powers, ghosts with Human choice, they panicked. He’d told them the truth, that they truly were just humans with ectoplasm and that upon death they’d become Ghosts like any other. But Daniel… Daniel was different. He was a true Halfa, not a Ghostling. His body would convert human energy and matter into ectoplasm and ectoplasm into energy and matter. Destroy him, and his ectoplasmic body would form first, but he’d still regain a human body and ability to change. The Observants were scared, and no matter what he did, they just wanted some way to get rid of him. Or control him, and Clockwork will not let them do that to anyone. So they finally used their last Order to force him to find and help implement a way to banish Daniel so completely that he could never have a hope of returning.

So turning away from the Observants, from the greedy, stupid people who he thought he could help, was easy. Turning away from the last place Daniel had existed in this world, the boy whose life and future he had seen in so many ways, who could have done so much _ good _ for all their connected realms. That was painful. That was hard and heartbreaking, because he knew what came next. He had seen how much things would change, and as hard as the road was without the Phantom, it would never be so terrible as to justify rescuing him in this moment.

So Clockwork would mourn the lost possibilities and hope that the world he could direct the boy to in those few last seconds held something that could help him heal. The ritual was a curious thing. It was meant to hijack some sort of summoning ritual that was happening in a different realm, powered by different energy but summoning something that could fit the criteria of the one being sent. There wasn’t much Clockwork could do when the other worlds were governed by energies not tied to or even related to ectoplasm and thus out of his Sight, but he could direct the one being banished in the brief glimpses he caught as the rifts opened and closed during the ritual. The most he’d been able to do was ensure Daniel was sent to a realm that held beings that were extremely close to the humans he was used to and where he would not replace one being summoned by the ritual he was “hijacking” but instead allow him to slip through the rift created and maybe give him a chance to acclimate to his new surroundings on his own.

Sighing deeply once more and ignoring the cacophony of voices behind him, Clockwork retreated to his tower to keep a silent watch over the places he knew Daniel’s family and friends would reform into ghosts at over the next few years. One last favor for a lost child who could have been so much more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first story ever, so any constructive criticism and comments would be appreciated! I probably will not have a consistent update schedule either.  
I might do a small oneshot/ explanation about what happens in the DP world, because now I’m invested, but it’ll probably just be an explanation. Constructive criticism and any comments are always welcome! If you think something doesn’t make sense, please tell me. I’ve never really written before, and I have a ton of ideas but I’m not sure how to convey them in a way that makes sense. Thanks for reading so far!


	2. Well that's happening...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry in advance. This chapter jumps around a lot, with a ton of different tones. Please read it through, if you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them. It's mostly mechanics and background information that is impossible to really present from anyone's point of view.  
PLEASE, DO NOT expect updates to be this fast or regular. you will probably be disappointed at some point, it's just that this chapter is mostly explanations, and I'm really good at explanations and backgrounds and weird specific details that don't get seen in the duration of a story a lot. I'm not so good at writing cohesive conversations and such. Also, I've got a lot of time cuz of labor day.

There are some things that man will always find impossible to explain, comprehend, or even realize exist no matter their ability to ponder or reason. The existence of Daniel James Fenton is one such thing. Every version of Danny, as he or she usually prefers, exists as a great mystery. A true paradox, a living and dead, dead and living being. This version, the one we will follow and know, is an odd approximation of the paradoxes of both Schödinger’s cat and the riddle of the chicken and the egg. Though an argument may be made that the version “the phoenix and the ashes” is slightly more accurate. There is much about himself that he does not know, and more he will likely never understand.

He is a true Halfa. It seems like an odd distinction, but it is so important to his existence. Danny himself had sometimes wondered if he was a human with ghost attributes, or a ghost with human attributes, and what each would mean. He was neither, because he was both, though his sister Dani and enemy Vlad were only humans with ghost abilities. Upon death or destruction, their ghostly attributes would guarantee they reform as proper ghosts. Danny however, would not.

The life of Danny Fenton was not normal, not even as a child. Indeed, his home would have been considered a hazard to any who would have tried to pay attention to his parents. Scientists though they were, they did not consider the ectoplasm they managed to collect to be truly dangerous to humans. They were correct, it wasn’t exactly dangerous, but neither was it normal. The portal incident may have pushed Danny into being a Halfa, but he never would have achieved being a true one if he had not been already used to ectoplasm in his daily life. Traces in the leftovers he ate the most of while his sister made her own food and his parents ate delivery on late nights. Radiation from misfired weapons, fumes from burning beakers, particles from hastily collected samples. All permeating his house from before his birth to his changing. Indeed, with the opening of the portal, all the residents of Amity Park became just a bit more used to ectoplasm, just a bit more likely to become ghosts upon death. But Danny did not die, he changed.

Fact: Ghosts are ectoplasmic energy based beings formed from ideals, concepts, and/or particularly strong post mortem wishes. These wishes and concepts give birth to Obsessions, the reason and will of a ghost to exist. Fact: Daniel James Fenton’s Obsession was to Protect. Some had speculated it to be Amity Park, others said his family, more claimed it to be his friends, and still others guessed it to be fighting. Each a reasonable guess, but still wrong. It was and is to Protect. His city and everyone he could, but his loved ones came first, always. His family, his friends, they were the reason he protected Amity, which became his city. Their lives, happiness, and wellbeing were his first priority, always. His reasons to Protect. So all of Amity Park became his lair, his territory to Protect and Defend, for them.

Fact: Ghosts without Obsessions fade. They deform and scatter to the four corners. With the death of his Obsession, is would be reasonable to assume that Daniel Fenton’s ghost would fade. Except that his ghost was tied to a human half. Fact: the human body is controlled by the brain. Illnesses and emotions in the brain affect the wellbeing of the body. Also fact: Human bodies do not want to die. Even when our brains and hearts think or decide death would be better, the body disagrees. When the brain’s consciousness is no longer available, the subconscious will always strive to live. 

Fact: Daniel James Fenton is a True Halfa. His Ghost and Human halves are perfectly balanced, intricately tied, and infinitely self sustaining. His body can convert energy to matter to ectoplasm and all the way back. His ghost half supports his human, his human half supports his ghost. He will never die because he is already a ghost. He will never fade because he is still a human. Even with his Obsession destroyed, even as his ghost half scrambles and loses touch, his human half refuses to die and keeps him together. It’s messy and weird and not conducive to conscience thought as his material body is burned by the sheer mass of ectoplasm that is forced through the vortex with him and spit out somewhere entirely different.

Fact: Chakra is not ectoplasm. The weird place the ectoplasm belonging to the subconscious of Danny Fenton appeared in was full of some sort of energy that connected to the physical realm, but was not ectoplasm. That was okay, the body of Danny Fenton could convert energy from human or physical to ectoplasmic no sweat. But it did not have a physical human body at the moment, because it had been burned away. That was also okay, it just needed to appropriate a native one for a bit. Enough to understand how the beings in this world accessed the energy in it. Except… it was proving a bit more difficult than expected. The beings in this world seemed occupied, and did not even notice the ectoplasmic mass attempting to borrow their bodies and acquire the secret to accessing the abundant energy of this realm. This was probably good, as the inherent energy pathways in their body were incompatible to the point of automatically rejecting the ectoplasm faster than it could adjust, and what they would do if conscious of the attempted invasion was not a thought to dwell on.

Now, had he been conscious, this is the part where Danny would have given up and tried to die from lack of will or want to live at that moment. If he had only been a ghost, he would be long faded. Instead, his human subconscious wanted to live and decided to find the perfect way to do it. It took a bit, but finally it was able to find a body whose energy pathways were still part way open and working, but did not hold the individuality that had repelled it from all the other bodies. In fact, it was a wonderful body, and it was empty! Perfect for the ectoplasm, that saved it plenty of time trying to form a material based body from scratch. It made quick work of adapting the energy pathways of the body and the genetic material to suit it. The pathways were changed to take in the natural energy of the world as well as the already existing human physical energy and convert it into or from ectoplasmic energy as needed. That was good, everything was good now. The being that was Danny had a material body, a very large supply of ectoplasm, and a way to gain more at any time. Now it could rest.

*****

The Hanoshi’s (葉の死) were a small family. Hanoshi Namadoku (生毒) was an Academy dropout who took up the family apothecary after his father. It was actually a fairly lucrative family business that had been providing medicines and poisons alike to the shinobi of Konoha since nearly the beginning. His wife Hanoshi Rokka (六花) was happy to help him and support him, no matter his slightly alarming eagerness for sons to fulfill his dream of being a shinobi for him. Their two year old Akane (赤根) was growing into a fine, obedient child, and would no doubt be a wonderful big brother to the one growing Rokka’s stomach. On the night of October 10th, Rokka was only eight months pregnant. She was not a shinobi, nor a particularly aggressive or initiative person. She was not exactly a push over, but she and her husband maintained the old fashioned civilian ideals that women were not to be leaders or decision makers outside the home, so she had never experienced a true fight in her life.

On the night of October 10th, this became her undoing. The suddenness of the Kyuubi’s attack, the panic, the overwhelming KI and maliciousness that she had never known even an ounce of before sent her into an early labor. They lived far enough from the attack that they were able to easily retreat to a shelter, but all the medics had been directed to shelters closer to the place of attack. She had no one but civilian midwives and other mothers to attend her with the standard medical supplies in every shelter. In most worlds, the child who would have been Hanoshi Shimome (霜芽) lives for barely five minutes. In most worlds, the premature birth, lack of appropriate supplies or medic nin, and the intense KI still lingering in the minutes after the Kyuubi was whisked away by the Fourth were too much. The child’s body simply could not take it, and though it fought, its soul had slipped away before it even made it out of the womb. The only thing born was a body too young to understand it was lacking but too new to give up before it even tried, and in the end it too stilled. Just another casualty of the Kyuubi.

However, in this world, there is a certain mass of ectoplasm, will, and soul that is searching for a body. A material body whose soul was never fully anchored and whose chakra coils were only just closing from the lack of spiritual or physical energy to create even the smallest bits of chakra was the only thing that would let it in. In this world, the child screamed not just from the sensation of the first breath, but from the pain of rearranging chakra systems, from stuffing ectoplasm into a new container, from reordering genetic codes to allow it to fit. In this world, when the blood was washed from the child, she had bright eyes that were either blue with green specks or green with blue instead of the varying shades of gray her family had. In this world, the peach fuzz on her head was a patchwork of black and white instead of the standard black of her family. In this world, her skin was a swirl of death white and lively tan, matching none of the healthy but naturally pale shades of her family.

Later, when they were able to get her a proper check over with a medic nin, the Hanoshi’s would learn of their daughter’s “condition”. Her chakra system was completely deformed, seemingly connected to nothing and unable to properly process her spiritual energy and oddly processing her physical energy. No one knew what would happen to her as she grew, or if she would even survive long enough to grow. It was considered to be a consequence of being born in the presence of the Kyuubi, and would lead to the monitoring of many children and newborns in the following years, but would seem to be a solitary case. Shimome was considered a delicate, health risked child because even the weakest civilians who couldn’t access their small chakra had it there and relatively balanced. Her family would try to shelter her from everything, isolating her not only for fear of her health, but in fear of what the village would think of their demon touched child. 

Ironically, they would still hate the “demon child” of Konoha, perhaps even more than most. Even their neighbors and acquaintances somehow saw Shimome as a poor, unfortunate victim of the attack while they regarded the child who shared her birthday as the attacker and evil incarnate. Later in life, some would consider her just as demon touched as him, but that is for later. For now, Shimome had been born in the only world where she survived her birth, and it could be argued that it wasn’t even Shimome.

But the consciousness previously named Danny Fenton did not know this, and so he slept with exhaustion given peace as his new family praised and worried over his survival.

*****

The Shinigami didn’t get out much. It was a being of death and had a lot to do, presiding over, sorting, and guiding souls to where they should be. One of its deepest regrets was dealing with the long lived Uzumaki and giving them knowledge of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal in an effort to maybe collect some of them faster. What it did not anticipate was the sheer chaos and paperwork they could generate with it. It thought it would be an easy way to consume two or more souls at once, maybe even drain some chakra to get stuff done faster. It had not thought it through at all. First, they barely ever used it and when they did, it usually took more time to collect those two or so odd souls than it was worth. Second, the paperwork and backlog were ridiculous! Just more wasted time. Third, and this one was important, they would not SHUT UP! Excuse it if it wanted to try something new and ended up making it so the souls could not go to the after lives and had to stay in its stomach!

So when the Shinigami felt itself being summoned once more, it was not overly pleased. The humans hadn’t summoned it in such a long time, it had hoped that they had forgotten how. With the most reluctance it could show while still seeming like an immortal, all powerful, cool being of death (that is to say, none), it answered the jutsu. And promptly noticed that though a weak and near dying Uzumaki was present, they were not the one to summon it. No, that would be the grown blonde one, because the Uzumaki was busy restaining the _ freaking _ ** _Kyuubi._ ** Existence damned _ humans. _ When did they ever think?! It was not looking forward to whatever was coming next.

...What was that? Something else was in the clearing, something that belonged to death and yet existed without it. Whatever it was was powerful, but no others seemed to notice it, even as the Shinigami observed it attempting to ...enter? the humans. Well, the Kyuubi might have noticed something, but it seemed rather otherwise occupied. Fascinating, where did it come fro- oh, rude! It had appeared through the rift naturally created by the Shinigami’s own appearance, but _ it _didn’t have to deal with stupid, short sighted humans ordering it around! Humph, no fair really.

Ah, it seemed to be getting a bit frantic, and was heading towards the village the Shinigami could sense nearby. Hmm, well it seemed that the blonde was talking quite a bit, and the presence thing was quite fast. And much more interesting than whatever dying humans talked about. Poor presence, it couldn’t seem to find what it was looking for. Humans were kinda useless like that, and it was leaking a fascinating type of energy behind it. Oh, nevermind, it had found a body it could use. A newly dead fetus, and it was… Oh that was _ very _new. Absolutely new, and it would say impossible except it had just seen it happen. 

The presence and power had changed the dead child to be able to take in natural chakra in a way similar to summons and other beings sustained by chakra only, like bijuu. Not only were the previously human body and chakra coils taking in natural chakra while moving and not turning to stone, they were converting it to the strange new energy the being had brought with it and seemingly disregarding the yin-yang balance of all chakra. Or, no, not ignoring, but substituting! The new energy was like the yin, while also supporting the yang of the physical body. And the being wasn’t just converting chakra into its own energy, but also changing its own energy to mimic the chakra in its environment so as to hide its immense presence and somehow convert some back into natural chakra that was just a tiny bit different. Just enough that absorbing it again would still be easy for the being, but not enough to affect the order of things it seems.

Maybe he could apply for vacation to study it… Ah, the blonde was ready to attack whatever it wanted to now. Well, time to get on with it. The Shinigami really didn’t know what the human was going to seal, the Uzumaki was already dying and the tiny blonde was surely not worth the effort, so- Oh _ hell no. _ This stupid, arrogant, short sighted, blundering human was trying to seal the _ freaking Kyuubi. _ Like, it knew humans had gotten into a habit of that, but how dumb could they be to try and seal the _ Kyuubi _ , a being of pure, natural chakra that was immortal and could and _ should _ always reform?! That was monumentally- OH MY REALITY. Was the human serious? Only half of the Kyuubi, and not even a sensible balanced half, only the Yin chakra, preventing the Kyuubi from ever really reforming properly. And what did a Shinigami need with half a chakra being for, anyway? I mean, bragging rights for reaping an immortal that would otherwise never be reaped, yes. But the _ paperwork. _Not to mention the amount of imbalance it would create in the world. No, this wouldn’t do, but what- The presence.

The presence had managed to reform a human’s chakra coils and make them healthily absorb nature chakra and store it. And the (idiotic) blonde only wanted to seal half of the Kyuubi into itself and subsequently into the Shinigami, and the other half into- into the tiny Uzumaki. Because of _ course _ , an hour old newborn could hold half of the most powerful bijuu in existence! It would- wait, no, this minuscule Uzumaki was somehow born with the chakra reserves to survive this. Aww, that kid would be an absolute _ monster _ when it grew up. Adorable. And very fortunate. _ Lets hope the little presence didn’t have a copyright. _

It was the work of a thought and a flick to pull the Kyuubi’s yin through the grown blonde and let it think it had sealed it in it while the Shinigami scattered the yin chakra around Konoha and sealed it into its borders- it had to seal it somehow, or the summoning wouldn’t end. Then, things got a bit trickier. The Shinigami was still able to stick around as the blonde prepared the tiny blonde for its own sealing. As the blonde belonged to the Shinigami now, it was simple enough to see its plan for the child’s seal. The next step, modifying it, was harder. Thankfully, the (_absolutely moronic _) blonde had already decided to use an unlapped Eight Trigram Seal to allow the child and Kyuubi’s chakras to mix a bit. Hmm, mark that, adjust this, push that to the side, erase that dot, balance that swirl… This is looking pretty- WTF.

Blondy, you dumbbutt, moronic, nincompooped _ dollop head! _ You do not turn your back to the ** _F***ING KYUUBI! _ ** And now you _ and _the larger Uzumaki are dying, great job. Ugh, whatever, stupid dying humans and their stupid speeches. You will do the seal like this, that key thing will be useless, and you won’t even realize the difference. 

Oh wow. WOW. That actually worked! It’s already functioning perfectly, oh this is its best work yet. Ever. Aww, look at the seal taking root, the changes the (_ adorable! _) Uzumaki is going through. Sheer genius on the Shinigami’s part. Not only would the Kyuubi be sealed in the child, but the child’s chakra coils had been adjusted to better take in nature chakra and channel it to the Kyuubi for it to reform its yin half from that and the scattered bits in Konoha. Sure, it would probably have some sort of effects on the kid that the Shinigami really didn’t want to think through now and the Kyuubi would probably be stuck with this kid for, like, a really long time, but! He did add a clause to the seal that so long as the kid and Kyuubi were still sealed together, then no one else could further seal or totally control the Kyuubi and that once he was fully formed, he would be able to let parts of his chakra out in such a way that he could form a vessel, albeit probably a smaller one than he was used to.

Anyway, case and point was that the Kyuubi owed it _ all _the favors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> k, so for clarification: sections one and two of this chapter are outside omniscient POV. sorry if they're really meta or weird, but I spent a long time thinking this through so that it all made at least some sense, okay, and there are still tons of little facts that I wanna mention but that don't fit.  
The Shinigami's part reads a little weird cause it does not see gender of any kind, so everything is an it. The whole part kind just wrote itself, and it is definitely random. The Shinigami has somehow become a cross between a bored office worker and a dumb mad genius whose just trying random new stuff in an effort to not be bored. please comment if things still don't make sense!  
From Google Translate:  
Ha 葉 =Leaf, no の =of, shi 死 =death -> Hanoshi, the family that deals with poisons, aka "Leaves of death", though putting the whole phrase 葉の死 in translate gets you Leaf Death  
Nama 生 =Living, doku 毒 =poison -> I have decided that the family called "Leaf of Death" (or "Leaf Death") names their kids in life-death paradoxes (this came after I gave Danny a life-death paradox Japanese name). So the dad has the name that translates to Living Poison, though putting the phrase 生毒 in translate makes it Raw Poison  
Rokka 六花 =snow (less commonly used), probably referring to snowflakes as roku 六 =six and hana 花 =flower  
Aka 赤 =red, ne 根 =root -> I was a little lazy, but red for spilled blood/ damaged life, root for veins and plants  
Shimo 霜 =frost, me 芽 =sprout -> a little poetic, for both the circumstance of her birth and the color of her eyes and stuff, but frost for blue and death and sprout for green, growth, new life, and hope. I came up with Shimony's (shimome + danny) appearance, then her name, then the family names


	3. How bad can a Baby be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT:  
\- italics are emphasis or thoughts  
\- underlined are words in English  
-[...] are words in Naruto's head when talking to Kurama  
LESS IMPORTANT BUT USEFUL:  
Naruto doesn't realize Shimome is speaking English for the same reason Shimome is speaking English- even with their learning rates (Shimome with an almost adult comprehension and child learning abilities, Naruto with Kurama teaching him) they don't know all the words, so they just figure it's words they don't know yet. Kurama doesn't notice because he just thinks humans are constantly using different terms for stuff and changing spoken language too much.  
I'm not gonna specifically call Shimome trans, because while Danny will be calling himself a he, other than that and not looking forwards to female puberty, he genuinely doesn't really care about being in a girl body because he doesn't see the difference much. His main role models and inspirations were his mom and sister, so Danny's view is that girls can be pretty boss and also that gender or sex have no impact on abilities or likes other than the ability to make a baby. Danny will be "gender neutral" in that he doesn't care about his sex and what it says he should be or do, he will be a he and do whatever he wants, even if it's "girl" things. Naruto will be "gender neutral" in that no one is ever gonna get around to trying to teach this kid "conventional gender roles" until way too late, and so he just won't really get why people try to treat others differently based on it or think he should do or say or act some way based on him being a he. So I consider him to be less "gender neutral" and more kinda just gender ignorant.  
Danny's age is kinda up to grabs, because he was 17 when he died and significantly more mature than all the other kids he'll meet, but he was still kinda a kid himself. Also, part of growing up is having people treat you with more responsibility because they see you as an adult, or grown at least, and he's not experiencing that now.

Danny...still didn’t really know what was happening in his life. At first it seemed like a blur because it _literally was._ It took an embarrassingly long time to realize that he was in the body of a baby and not constantly doped up with drugs in a lab, or a prison, or a prison-lab somewhere, though who really thought being turned into a baby was a viable option. (_Except Dani, and Clockwork, and Bertrand, and- okay, he really shouldn’t be surprised at this point)_ _How_ he came to be in a baby’s body was a much greater mystery. He remembered the plane, and the trap, the eyeball people, _(his family-)_, and the vortex thing, but not how precisely he became a baby. Or something. He thinks (hopes) he _became_ a baby and isn’t just overshadowing one because he can’t find any other consciousness in the body. Also because he’d tried leaving it and it never worked. Again, as far as he could tell, all his other powers were more or less working, if a bit weird feeling and harder to control or use when his own body was so weak. Seriously, baby bodies are not cooperative. At all. He spent a ton of time just making himself mobile in some way. It was actually really hard to relearn the muscle memory to move when the fa- _people who watched him_ kept trying to put him in stupid cribs and pens and cages.

And that was another thing! Who did these people think they were?! He would not call them family. They were not his Mom or Dad or Sister. He would not care for (_ Protect) _ them, especially when they didn’t care about him. I mean, they obviously found him on the side of the road or a ditch or wherever that vortex thing spat him out. He obviously didn’t look like them _ (he didn’t even really look like himself, rather some weird mix-mash of his ghost and human forms looked back at him from the reflective surfaces he would study himself in). _ They always left him inside, always left him in cribs, kept the one who could have been a brother from ever interacting with him. Danny couldn’t even remember ever leaving the building except for hospital visits- that were completely unnecessary!- or ever having many visitors or a single playmate or even a birthday party! He’d seen them throw _ two _ for the older boy, but none for him. Maybe no year old party was excusable, but a second year old party? He could walk, and run, and kinda talk, he totally deserved one- if they cared. Which they obviously didn’t. Which was fine, he didn’t need them. They would NOT be his family, they could _ never _ replace his family. _ (Why should he Protect them? Why should he let them be his Obsession? Why should he look for something to complete himself, for some reason to be happy, when his family was dead and hewanted<strike>tojointhem</strike>) _

Which is why this was also fine. Apparently, his watchers had decided they didn’t even want him in the building anymore- I mean, yes. He _ maybe _ screamed a lot... And refused to let them feed him... And wriggled and dropped out of their holds... And climbed and phased out of the cages they put him in... And, okay, _ maybe _ he had been close to eating a poisonous flower because he thought it was just one of those little white weeds and it would have served the lady right if she spent more time caring for the stupid plants than him, _ but! _That did not mean that they had to send him to a whole other person for the duration of the day. Well, yes, it was very cool to finally be somewhere different, and with lots of colorful things, but it really was just proof that they didn’t want him!

“No. I have customers to take care of. People actually come here, I have orders to fill, I cannot watch your demon baby all day so you can manage your shop. My shop has needles, and scissors, and irons, and knives! How is a boutique supposed to be more safe than an apothecary?!” The weird lady the house-lady was trying to leave him with was complaining in increasingly loud tones. Also, rude, even this lady who didn’t know him didn’t want him! Except, she was maybe a little familiar. Hmm… 

“Don’t call her that! She’s perfectly normal, just a little fussy! And the apothecary is full of poisons and medicines that are just as dangerous at her age, just like the greenhouses. Namadoku is the one who watches the shop, and he can’t handle her and shinobi customers at once. Please, you just need to keep her in the backroom. She likes colorful things, she’s usually trying to eat the flowers, not the leaves, so just give her some cotton scraps, she should be fine. Please, we’re already behind in three weeks of orders because she keeps damaging the plants somehow! Just watch her until we catch up, Onee-chan, please!” Well dang it, house-lady. Way to make him feel bad. Minus points for still calling him a her though, he’d stated and demonstrated quite clearly (i.e. thrown lots of tantrums and ruined every single dress and skirt they’d tried to put on him) that whatever the state of the stuff between his legs, he was a _ he. (Oh Clock- Go- _ ** _Zone. _ ** _ Would he have to go through PUBERTY?!) _Whatever, you’re still not my mom. 

“...Fine. Fine! Whatever, I’ll take the stupid little hellion during work hours, but _ only _ until you’re caught up with all your orders. Da- Dang it, Rokka, I didn’t get married because I didn’t want to have to be the responsible one! I’m supposed to be the stern but fun Aunt, not your go to babycare.” Oh, so he _ had _ seen the weird lady before! She came over to the house every once in a while, usually with a new dress or frilly skirt to ruin. He didn’t like her much because of that, but she was actually a pretty nice aunt compared to all his old ones, while the other people just fell depressingly short compared to family. He still wouldn’t _ call _her aunt, because he still didn’t want or need a replacement family, but he’d be nice so long as she fed him and didn’t try to put him in stupid puffy dresses. 

“Oh, thank you! Thank you Tenka, I’ll pick her up when I’m done today, she’s got a lunch, snacks, diapers, some clean clothes, bottles, extra milk, even a small dinner just in case. There’s also a changing pad, and wipes, and her favorite toys and stuffed animals, and I brought some baby gates because I thought you might need them. Just wedge them into a doorway, though I’m not sure if they actually work, I think she can climb over them. Um, there’s milk, it’s cold, heat it up before you give it to her but not too hot! She should take a nap somewhere between 12 and 2, be careful where you step then, she always crashes in the weirdest places, but you can move her to a bed when you find her without her waking. Oh, there’s some blankets and pillows for when she goes down too. The books are for when she’s lost and you want to find her, she usually comes to you for a story, such a smart girl, already learning to read. And, oh, there’s- “

“Oh Kami, stop! It’s fine Imōto, I may not be a mother but I watched you enough growing up, didn’t I? I’ve got this, really, go drink a cup of tea and get cracking on your orders. Shimome and I will be fine, won’t we?” The lady- Tenka?- said in a much calmer tone while taking all of Rokka’s bags to set aside and then reaching out to transfer him into her arms. Danny gave some obligatory wriggling, but didn’t really feel like being dropped. He might also be feeling a bit bad for Rokka, she wasn’t too mean really, she just wasn’t his mom. He didn’t actually mean to stress her out so much, the lady seemed near a breakdown. She usually seemed so calm.

“I know, I know, I have to go, but promise you’ll be okay? You’ll call if she’s too much, or gets hurt, or- or something? Her latest checkup showed that her coils are still improper, but they haven’t suddenly shut down and seem to be developing in a way that’s almost normal. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t suddenly go bad, oh this was a bad idea, what if she can’t handle the new environment? What if it sets something off, maybe I should just take her back home, try to keep her more entertained-”

“No. You need to rest, and catch up on orders, and you really need some time away. I know all about how her health is going, you call me so much. I’m sure I know at least as much as you, I know what numbers to call if something happens. I promise she’ll be fine. In fact, you can pick her up after dinner. Get takeout for you and the boys, take a nap, calm down. She’s two, Rokka, she needs to start exploring new environments and you need some time away to destress. We’ll figure it all out later, Shimome won’t be disappearing any time soon. Promise, Imōto. I love you, now go. I’ve gotta get her settled and then get to work, too.” ...Tenka was really nice. Rokka looked like she was about to cry, he didn’t think she could _ do _that. He wasn’t that bad, was he? And what was that about coils or shutting down or whatever?

“Okay. Okay, thank you, Tenka. I’ll, I’ll try that nap thing. Okay, Shimome, be good for your Oba, okay? I love you baby, Okaa-san will pick you up later, okay? I’ll be back, love you baby, thank you Tenka, really,” Rokka really was about to cry, shit. She leaned in to give him a hug and kiss his head, and usually he’d try to squirm away, but he really felt bad about making her have such a break down. Maybe…

“I be good. ‘Okka no cry. Naps good,” he said with a nod to Rokka. Dang it, why were r’s so hard? Stupid baby mouth. Baby speak was actually really hard too, but it probably helped that he was genuinely having to learn Japanese. That was fine, right? That wasn’t him thinking she was family, that was him apologizing for giving her a breakdown. Oh, Zone, abort, abort! It didn’t work, she looked like she was gonna cry even more now, shit, what’d he do?!

“She called me Okaa, she’s never called me Mom before, she..” Rokka whispered as her hands pressed against the growing smile creeping across her face. The tears in her eyes had grown, but they didn’t fall as her eyes curved with the force of her cheeks raising. Oh, she thought he’d called her...

“Well, see? All she needed was a change of pace, I’m sure she was just antsy from never getting new stimulation. We’ll be fine, and she won’t forget the word in a day. She’s very smart, you said, right? Go take a nap,Imōto, even the baby thinks you need one,” Tenka sounded stunned too, and though she quickly regained her firm voice, it help a kind of delighted, empathetic joy and pride that older sisters held for their younger siblings joys and growth. _ (Jazz used to sound like that all the time.) _

Well. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. _ He _ didn’t call her anything but her name, and if they wanted to take it the wrong way, it wasn’t _ his _ fault. He just, didn’t have to correct them, really. Rokka wasn’t- she _ wasn’t _ his mom, but he had been a little mean to her. She may not really want him, but she didn’t deserve to have a breakdown because he was throwing tantrums like, like- like a _ baby. _ He didn’t like her still, but… he’d let her have this. Just so she didn’t go breaking on him. She was just human, and she may be _ wrong _ and not _ his, _but he wasn’t a Bad Guy. He didn’t need to Protect her, just be a bit less of a brat.

“Right, right, okay,” she released a large breath and steadied her face while quickly wiping at her eyes. “I’ll just go get all that done, I’ll be back later.”

She almost looked like she was going to say more, but instead she just took another deep breath, nodded her head, and turned sharply to walk down the street. Tenka held him in the doorway until Rokka disappeared around the corner. Then she took him and the bags into the building with lots of clothes and fabrics hanging everywhere until they got to the back and through another door to a smaller area that nevertheless seemed to have as much, if not more, cloth materials in it scattered about on mannequins and piles and half done by sewing machines. There was a big tilted desk covered in large papers, sketches, and plans. Tenka put Danny down in the big cushy chair in front of the desk and crouched to look him in the eye with her arms on his shoulders.

“You are a very smart baby, Shimome. I think you’re even smarter than your Haha thinks, and she thinks you’re _ very _ smart. I think you know exactly what you are doing every time you do something, and I think you know that it makes your Haha very upset. But you are a baby, and I don’t know if you think it’s funny, or if you just think she’s not _ that _ upset because she doesn’t want to show you, but she tells me. She calls me almost every day, scared out of her skin and sometimes crying because she’s scared for you Shimome. She’s _ scared. _ You’re so smart and fast and curious, so opinionated, and she doesn’t know what to do. She’s trying though, do you know that? She’s scared that she was too hurt when you were born, that she hurt you somehow and that’s why your insides are so sick. She tries so hard to make sure you’re okay, and her idiot husband may be too ninja-boy crazy to show it, but he cares too. He just thinks you’ll die before it’s worth it. So why don’t you prove him wrong? Be the smart, strong baby you are and prove them _ all _ wrong,” she said with a very serious face and held his gaze for a long moment before smiling a small but no less real smile. “And thank you, too. You’re a really smart baby, being nice to your Okaa-san like that. She really needed it, and all she wants is for you to grow and grow well, okay Shimome?”

And what could he do but nod? He had… so many questions. Why were his insides sick? He thought he felt fine, his ectoplasm was acting a little weird, and he knew he felt differently than the energy that was in all the people here, but that couldn’t be it, right? Sure, he felt that somewhere in the city there were people with a lot of energy, but all humans had that. Even back in Amity, he’d learned to recognize the living energy in everyone as well as he sensed the ectoplasm in ghosts, but other humans couldn’t do that...right? And what did she mean when she said that Rokka being hurt would affect him, she didn’t give birth to him… did she? I mean, yeah, he couldn’t remember exactly how he ended up as a baby, but he- Well, he remembered vague feelings of pain and burning from the vortex, all encompassing in a way only the portal accident had ever felt, and then lots of impressions of power and… searching? Then some more pain, but the good kind, the kind of pain you got when resetting a bone or getting stitches- it hurt like the _ Keep _, but you knew you were getting better. Then all the weird fuzzy impressions that came with being a baby and surrounded by a language you’d only heard spurts of on tv.

But he could think about that later. Babies had a lot of time to think. Now, he had a choice to make. He had spent two years being angry and contrary, a brat in every way he knew how to because- because he was _ grieving. _ So he could keep at it, he could keep hating everyone in this place because they were here and, and his family _ wasn’t _ . Or he could grow up. He didn’t have to like them. He didn’t even need them. But he couldn’t keep punishing them for things that weren’t their fault. He, oh Zone, he was being like _ Vlad. _ Like _ Dan. _ He’d promised, hadn’t he? That he’d never be like them, that he’d never hurt others like that. He’d promised his _ family. _It was about time he kept it.

“I be strong. I grow lots.” Ugh, stupid baby speak, he’s trying to be cool here.

“Good, Shimome. That’s all I can ask. Now, you wanna see me make a yukata for your Okaa-san’s birthday? You can even help me pick the ribbon color,” Tenka smiled and picked Danny back up to take him to a wall absolutely covered in swaths of fabric and ribbon for color comparison. Oh no. This wasn’t like shopping for clothes, was it?

*****

It was, in fact, not like shopping for clothes. _ It was worse. _ Not only did Tenka Oba judge how it looked, she also spent ages debating what cuts to use, what fabric, how many panels, what shade of color, and on and on and _ on. _ He didn’t know what was more horrifying- that he was often used as a model, or that he was starting to understand her weird babble and _ debate back. _Two years of most of his weekdays at Oba’s boutique, and he had even learned how to design his own clothes and what should go together and why. It was honestly impressive, his mom, sister, and even Sam had all tried to affect his fashion sense at some point or another over years of time. Though that might be the difference, Oba didn’t try to make him like something, she just taught him how to make things and why certain things should go together and what things just can’t be done. It was why she was his favorite. Rokka and Namadoku weren’t bad, but he just couldn’t see them as Mom and Dad like they wanted. He may have been small again, and he may need help with some stuff, but he didn’t need a Mom and Dad. He actually thought that Rokka was pretty cool. She was nice, and worked hard to keep everyone healthy and fed and mostly happy. She may not have been able to fight like his Mom, but she was deadly smart in her own way. She could make cookies that could kill you. Like, good cookies, too! You wouldn’t even mind dying because they were so good, at least that’s what Namadoku said the ninja who used them said. 

(It was actually really ironic, because Rokka and Namadoku were both really old fashioned and stuff. They thought girls should marry, have kids, look after their house, and maybe help their husband’s work while the guys lead or fought or didn’t show emotion or whatever, and Rokka essentially was accessory to tons of deaths. Whereas Tenka Oba was all for being independent and didn’t care about getting married or having kids or anything, but she chose a job where she was basically paid to do clothes shopping all day, everyday.)

Namadoku, though. Namadoku and Danny did not agree on many things. For instance, Danny still told them all, regularly, that he was a he, and while Rokka just didn’t get it and resolved to just call him by name and gender neutral nicknames (child, little one, sweetie, baby, etc.), Namadoku flat out disagreed. That was fine though, Danny was a pro at ignoring annoyances, and the worst he did was try to start misogynistic lectures at the dinner table where Rokka was always quick to remind him that “managing the house” also meant she could put salt in his coffee and that, further, it was also her sister that he was insulting in those rants. He usually got shut down pretty quick, so they really just avoided each other. 

Akane was pretty nice though. He was no Jazz, but Danny had never had an older brother before, so it was a little easier to try to get to know him. He also was the only one in his immediate family (not counting Tenka Oba) that always called him a he. So over the last two years, he and Akane had actually gotten along great. It was a little weird because Akane insisted that he was the big brother, but Danny still ended up teaching him a lot because, well, because he was actually older.

(Danny didn’t know that Namadoku had several times tried to discourage this, but Akane took his parents words that, as the older brother, he would have to protect his little sibling when his mom was pregnant and Shimome was really little _ very seriously. _ And when Shimome first told him and he called Shimome a he, Shimome had _ smiled _ and _ hugged him _ and called him _ Nīsan _ . Shimome never did those for anyone but Tenka Oba-chan before, but now he got hugs and smiles and could make Shimome happy and was called family, too! Tou-san obviously didn’t know how to take care of Shimome properly because he’d never been a Nīsan before. Besides, Shimome was _ super _smart, he knew a ton, way more than Tou-san, probably.)

Also! Akane was six now, and he was starting school at the _ Ninja Academy. _ That’s right, this world had actual, real life NINJA! Even better, they were _ superpowered _ ninja! He could totally do that, if he wanted. He may have finally figured out that his ectoplasm was making it seem like he only had half an energy- chakra- system that everyone in this world had and that was why they kept thinking he would kinda just drop over dead one day, but that just meant there wasn’t actually anything wrong with him. He thinks. Well, he’s not really gonna tell them that, but he’s sure they’ll figure it out eventually.

(Danny’d found out that he was in a whole other world when he was three, or twenty, whatever. He thought he had enough control, so he made a duplicate to stick around and make sure no one went looking for him, and then he’d flown around the world trying to find ancient America. He’d thought he was just in the past or something, but he hadn’t found it. No, he’d just discovered that the world was covered in a completely different land mass than he’d expected, and that the energy he could feel everywhere, and that everyone had a personal supply of in their life force, was the only energy in this world. Not a lick of ectoplasm to be found anywhere, not even cemeteries or memorials. There was no going back.)

If he wanted to. Danny wasn’t sure if he did want to be a ninja, or shinobi. It would be like protecting, yes, but did he want to? _ (he did, he must, he was a Protector) _ Tenka, Akane, and Rokka were cool, but only because they were the only ones he really interacted with. _ (They were human. They would die. He could Protect them, but he would never let them be his to Protect. Not to lose them, not again.) _ Oh well, he had plenty of time to figure it out. Even at four, time was something he had plenty of. He was practicing his reading while monitoring the public area of Tenka’s shop, the part with pretty but generic clothing that people could buy off the rack rather than custom orders. It was a vital activity, because Tenka’s shop was where he got to interact with other people. It was where he started to actually learn about the place he was living in currently, how he gathered information about the general people of this world and what was considered acceptable. Other than the duplicates that he’d been able to reliably send around the village (why was it called a village? It was way too big to be considered a village) since he was three to collect information about this place that little kids probably shouldn’t have, but whatever, he was bored. He was actually currently reading a book he’d taken from one of the more guarded areas of the libraries about chakra theory and systems in an attempt to understand how he was still made of ectoplasm and somehow converting chakra to ectoplasm and back (he still did not understand. Chakra was physical and mental- or spiritual?- energy combined, but _ how. _He’s not a genius, okay? None of this makes sense). Maybe if he understood that, he could figure out what the-

Well, speak of the devil. Danny carefully put his book into the front pouch-pocket of his hooded sweatshirt (thank you Tenka for not questioning it and just helping him make his designs. He’d missed hoodies, and jeans were still a work in progress, but sweatpants weren’t too hard). That one energy signature that he’d felt in the village was behind the shop. He must have been really out of it if he hadn’t noticed it earlier. He’d always wanted to find who or what it belonged to, but he thought he had more time to figure stuff out because it generally stayed in, like, one building about halfway across town. It was weird, and it reminded him of, well, of himself _ (of Dani) _. It had a personal well of energy in its life force, just like everything else, but it also felt like the natural energy that was everywhere. It was blending, absorbing, and even giving back to the environmental energy in a way nothing else but Danny did. It also seemed like there was a second, bigger energy right on top of it, or maybe underneath or around or in it? Whatever, time to solve a mystery. Danny knocked on Tenka’s workshop door to tell her that he was gonna go get some snacks, and crept closer to the back door. The energy signature was right outside, maybe across the alley, just sitting there. Carefully gripping the doorknob, Danny took a deep breath and tensed before throwing open the door to get a glimpse of-

“What the heck.” There was a little kid crying in the alley way. Well, they weren’t crying now, they were just staring at him with the biggest, scaredest, and most stunned eyes he’d seen since he saw his own baby pictures of when his parents threw him in the tub _ (since Dani had been introduced to his parents and immediately captured in bone breaking hugs). _Their hair was a mess, obviously yellow, but long and tangled and filthy with dirt. Their whole body was covered in dirt, actually, so he couldn’t tell if they had freckles or were just that dirty. Okay, so the reason the energy signature had never moved was because they were let out as much as Danny himself was. Uh…

“Hey kid, are you lost? Do you need help finding your house?” Danny tried to sound soothing, like when Dani still had nightmares about destabilizing, or when he rescued ghosts from the GIW. He approached the kid with small steps and hands in the air to show he wasn’t armed. “Are you hurt anywhere? You’re kinda folded pretty small over there kiddo, I can’t tell. You want some new clothes before you go home or something?”

Danny was still trying to reconcile that the big, mysterious, powerful energy he’d been sensing since forever was a tiny, crying kid _ (so was Dani. So was he. Kids who got the bad end, and too much power to be allowed to run away). _He was right in front of the kid now, so he carefully crouched down in a mirror of their position, albeit looser. The kid was still just staring at him, with weird eyes. He seemed stunned and scared and expectant and… hopeful? all at once. 

“Do you need some tissue? I don’t have any right now, but I can get some from my Oba. She can probably find your parents real easy, too,” Danny whispered as the silence drew on.

Instantly, their head started to shake rapidly back and forth, throwing dirt and tangled yellow strands everywhere as they furiously swiped at their eyes. Danny fell back on his butt and looked into a face that was now smiling so widely that their eyes were practically forced shut. It was a weird face, because the tears and snot- gross- the kid had spread across their face moved around some of the dirt. Danny noticed that they did have freckles, little orange spots on his nose and cheek bones, and between and outside their eyes to their ears, though not above them or on their forehead. They also had curious black lines, three on each cheek so they looked like whiskers, that were apparently not ink or anything like it because they weren't smeared like the dirt. They were now sitting cross legged with their hands stuffed in their lap and leaning forward as if to blind him with their smile.

“NOPE! I’m fine, cuz, cuz I’m Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!” They absolutely shouted, surprisingly not cracking or petering out despite having been practically bawling just a short while ago. That was a skill that only ever came with practice that no kid should have. “And I’m not a kid, ya’know! I’m gonna be a really strong ninja, and Matron said I’m big enough to live all by myself sos, sos I’m a_ really _ big boy! You can’t call me kid, _ you’re _ a kid!”

They- Naruto just kept beaming at him, and Danny was pretty sure he was about five seconds from falling on his face because he kept leaning more forwards and had moved he hands to wave around and punch at the sky.

“Okay. Well, Uzumaki Naruto, it’s good to meet you. Do you- do you actually live alone? Is that a thing three year olds can do here?” Because if it was, Danny wanted to know about it. And if it wasn’t… Well, something was really wrong here. _ (he’s alone, no one’s Protecting him, he’ll get hurt like Dani, not again, Protectthembetter) _

“Hey, I’m four!” He shoved four dusty fingers in front of Danny’s nose to demonstrate before deflating just a bit. “An’, uh, I , I don’t have a house yet but yeah! I can take care of myself real good, it’s been, um, a whole moon cycle an’ no one can catch me an’ I’ve been able to find food everyday for four whole days, dattebayo! An’-”

“No. Naruto, no, that is not okay. Who’s Matron? Are they one of your parents? Because they should not be able to do that. Naruto, look at me, they _ can’t _ do that. Who is Matron?” Danny felt a little bad for snapping at him, but it- this was just _ wrong _. This four year old had been living on the streets for a month. That had horrifying implications in every way- that no one had noticed. That his parents or guardians had forced him out and not let him back or had left him in a part of town he’d never been to. That something had happened in his life so that he apparently didn’t think to ask anyone for help, instead just took straight to “taking care” of himself.

“Nooo,” Naruto pulled the word out, eyes once more wide with shock, even when his smile was still half up. “Matron’s name isn’t Matron, but I’m not allowed to call her her name. She’s Matron cuz she’s in charge of the orphanage. The place for kids with no family.” The last sentence was added in a whisper when he saw Danny’s still confused face.

“...You mean an orphanage. Matron is the title for an orphanage Matron. The one in charge of caring for you because you have no one else to. That lady kicked you out and said to never come back. Okay. Okay, wait, no, _ not okay _ , but do you know why, Naruto? Because she had to have a reason, even if it’s completely fake and illegal.” Danny’s temper was a little piqued at the moment. She was given charge of a child _ (different child, not all human, likeDani,<strike>likeme</strike>), _ and she hurt him. She abandoned her duty _ (not a good Protector) _.

“Mmhm,” the kid nodded. He paused for a bit and studied Danny a bit more, smile still there, but only out of habit, before saying, “She said I was trouble, an’ a demon.”

It was probably supposed to be a whisper, but Danny’s hearing was excellent. He heard it, every syllable. But now was not the time to be angry _ (his eyes burned in a way he hadn’t let them in years) _ , so he closed his eyes _ (hide the glow, be normal) _, took a deep breath, and unclenched his fists as he exhaled and refocused on the blue eyes of the boy in front of him.

“Well, we’ll figure something out. C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up and some proper food. Oba’s apartment is right above her shop,” Oh Zone, what was he doing, this kid was like a kitten left in a cardboard box, who would do that?! It’s fine Danny, chill, just keep him calm, get him clean, and find a responsible adult to get in contact with- did this place even have CPS? Or anything like it? Shoot, right, kid now, CPS search later.

“I can get my Oba, then we can go-” He just caught the blur of yellow-brown that threw itself at him.

“NO! No grown ups, please-” shoot, this was not calm. Abort! Geeze, this kid had a grip.

“Okay, okay, it’s okay. No adults. We can just sneak into my Oba’s apartment, it’s right there, in there and up the stairs. Okay? Then we can get you clean, and some food, too!” People liked food, right? As if waiting for a cue, a rumbling, almost squeaky growl came from Naruto’s stomach. Danny carefully peeled Naruto’s arms from his torso and began to lead him to the door. He followed quietly, eyes darting to and fro, searching for an exit or maybe trying to find the trap, the last dregs of his earlier smile still forcing the corners of his mouth upwards.

“Shimome, I thought you were going to the store?” Tenka’s voice made both the children jump as it resounded in the back after they’d closed the door. Thankfully, she hadn’t actually left her workroom, just called out.

“I- I fell in some mud! Can I go wash up and make something in your apartment please, Tenka Oba?” Please say yes, please say yes, please…

“You know you don’t even need to ask. Are you sure your okay? It was just mud?,” Her amused yet concerned tones came back.

“I’m a big boy, Oba! I know how to take a bath and make some omurice,” Danny tried to put as much childhood bluster into the sentence as possible, and the knots in his chest (and the pressure on his hand from Naruto’s grip) loosened as Tenka laughed an agreement.

Danny stomped up the steps in an effort to further conceal his surprise guest who crept up behind him. Once past the landing and final doorway to Tenka’s apartment, Danny had to continuously tug Naruto along lest the kid be left staring at the pictures, paintings, hangings, and various knick-knacks tastefully spread about in a professional yet cozily crowded way. It was a small apartment, with a joint kitchen and dining room with only a counter separating it from the living room. There were two bedrooms, though both were rather small, the second more of a hallway closet that could fit a desk and some filing cabinets full of papers Oba didn’t want to leave downstairs and a small cot and mattress for when Shimome would sleep over. The bathroom was surprising big really, with a shower and tub combination.

He showed Naruto where the towels were and let him pick one as he got the bath full, adding plenty of bubble bath solution for him. 

“Right, so there is shampoo, conditioner, and some more washing soap here. You can use this hand towel. What’s your favorite color?” Danny was testing the water temperature with his hands as he pointed out the various containers.

“Orange! It’s the best, dattebayo,” The boy waved the red towel he’d chosen in the air as he extolled the virtues of orange and it’s bright, happy greatness. 

“All right, I’ll see what I have. You’re good, right? I’ll just be in the kitchen making something to eat,” Danny laughed a bit as he turned to leave the bathroom.

“Wait!” He turned back in the doorway to face Naruto again, who looked like he was hesitating a bit. “Um, what’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m-” Danny stopped. The Hanoshis and Tenka called him Shimome, mostly because he didn’t care to even tell them his name, nevermind the reasons _ why _ he wouldn’t want to answer to Shimome. But, he’d never actually introduced himself before. He always just told customers he was Tenka’s nephew, and she would be the one to further introduce him if needed. Did he want to be called Danny? More importantly, did he want Naruto to call him Danny? He could feel it, knew that he wouldn’t be letting this kid go or be able to push him away as easily as he did his second family. He was already lying to himself when he believed they meant nothing to him, but if he let this one in it would be different. The Hanoshis cared, and they tried, but the simplest, easiest defence against attachment to them was that he didn’t really need them and they didn’t actually need him. Naruto was already different, and he- he reminded him so much of Dani that he wouldn’t be able to look the other way. So did he want to be Danny again, who had a family and lost them _ (was a failed Protector, was tied to the Fentons and Earth and the Zone) _. He’d done a lot of grieving and growing in the last two years, and while he may not want to be an entirely new person, different wouldn’t be so bad…

With a smile and a new resolve, he answered, “My name is Hanoshi Shimome, but please call me Shimome.”

*****

Shimome was an _ angel. _ Rama tou-san had said there was no such thing, but he was clearly wrong. _ (Naruto had asked what the opposite of a demon was, but Kurama said it was impossible to be one) _ He was nice and let him have a bath and made him omurice and gave him _ orange clothes! _ They were really soft, and big, and warm. The top had long sleeves with black cuffs that fell over his hands, a black triangular collar and hood, and a big black pocket on the front that fit both his hands in it, but the rest of it was a really bright orange! The pants matched it too, with black cuffs at the bottom and all orange otherwise. And, and now he was even letting him stay in his room tonight, which was so much more warm than the trees in the park. 

**[This is still a bad idea, kit. We don’t know the child’s motives, or even what they are! Leave, I say we have no need for this creatures help] **Tou-san’s voice growled from in his head.

[MmMm. He’s nice, I told you we should have looked for the other chakra person ages ago but _ noooo. _ You thought a weird bijuu like thing was gonna attack us, but he’s really nice! He’s helping us, and we totally should have come straight here when Matron kicked me out, dattebayo!] Naruto argued back.

**[If we can tell that it is not human, than it can most likely tell that you aren’t either.]**

[...but I am. I’m still human, tou-san, just, just a little different, you said so, dattebayo, right?]

**[Born so, yes kit. And I don’t know what your human spawners were trying to do, but you don’t work the same as other humans, Naruto, or even other jinchuuruki. Not anymore, and whatever the kid-]**

[Stop it! His name is Shimome, and he’s good, ya’know! So what if he can tell I’m different, he’s different too, so- so he prolly won’ even care, dattebayo!]

**[...Don’t get us killed kit.] **

Naruto nodded his head happily at his Rama tou-san’s perceived approval and looked around the small room Shimome had left him in while he went to tell his Oba that he was sleeping over and change into his own sleep clothes. It was a really tiny room, with a big cabinet, a small dresser drawer, a wooden desk with lots of paper on it and a lamp attached to the top, and a small bed with purple blankets and pillow cover. The floor had a blue, fuzzy oval rug on it and the walls were a pretty green with different shaped blue designs all over! Naruto’s head shot to the doorway as it opened and Shimome entered with wet hair, a white t-shirt with red linings and a red oval on it, pants that looked the same as his except all blue, and red socks.

“Okay, so Tenka Oba said I was of course welcome to stay, but she’s got a really fancy order due tomorrow so she’ll be down in her workshop late. Which is good, because it means I got to make us dinner and not worry about having to sneak food to you. She’s pretty nice, ya’know, I’m pretty sure she’d be thrilled I managed to make a friend,” Shimome said while putting down some plates full of rice, grilled fish, and some fried veggies. 

“Itadakimasu,” They both bowed briefly before they began eating. Naruto noticed that Shimome kept shaking his head every once in a while as they ate. A bit later, he sighed and put down his chipsticks so Naruto paused in his quick consumption too, afraid he’d done something improper, or that something had gone wrong, or maybe Shimome’d snapped out of whatever funny mood made him nice to him-

“Sorry, my hair keeps almost falling into my food. I’m just gonna braid it real quick,” Shimome said as he pulled his long hair into two bunches on either side of his head. Shimome’s hair was really cool, just like his eyes. They were two different colors! His hair was black and white, and his eyes were even cooler. There was another kid at the orphanage who had two different colored eyes, but Shimome’s eyes were different from each other _ and _ they were each different colors! They were both green and blue, but Naruto was pretty sure they changed _ (and glowed) _. They were magic! So he paid close attention as Shimome put his hair into two braids, like he’d seen Matron do for some of the girls. It was actually really fun, because you never knew when the strand would look black or white at any twist.

“Do want me to do yours?” The question startled Naruto, who realized he’d been staring.

“Oh! No, dattebayo, I gotta finish eating,” he blurted out and quickly began to shovel food in his mouth again.

“It’s fine, I can do it after. Braiding it before bed means it will tangle less in your sleep, too,” Shimome laughed as he picked up his own chopsticks again. The rest of dinner was pretty quiet, and after they finished Shimome washed the dishes and showed Naruto where to put them.

“C’mon, sit here,” Shimome put a purple pillow on the ground by the end of the bed. Naruto hesitated a bit before acquiescing, kneeling on the pillow with his back straight and hands on his knees. Whenever he spied on the lessons Matron held for the other kids, she always made them “sit properly” like that. He felt Shimome tugging at his hair a bit, trying to part it he thinks.

“Oh, wow, this is a mess. I’m gonna have to brush it first, okay? Tell me if it ever really hurts,” Shimome said as he got up and moved to the dresser to pull out a wooden comb.

“Okay.” Naruto nodded as he stood behind him again. He felt tugs at his head again, but none of it really hurt.

“How did it even get this many dread knots? Was it really hard to brush it even when you were at the, uh, orphanage?”

“Dunno, I’ve never brushed it before.”

“Never. Ever. What about a haircut? You don’t have any split ends, and it looks pretty healthy.” The tugs were getting stronger, and sometimes stung now, but it didn’t hurt much, so Naruto didn’t say anything.

“Matron said that she wouldn’t waste time on uh, ‘un-ness-ce-sary upkeep’ on me.”

_ Snap. _“Ow!”

Naruto turned his head quickly, and joined Shimome in staring at the broken comb in his hands.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, dattebayo, sorry, I can get you a new one, or-” Naruto stopped as Shimome began to laugh.

“Oh my gosh, it _ broke! _ I didn’t know hair could break a wooden comb! Dude, that was _ great _ . Wait here, we’re doing this. I’ll get some more stuff, I will not lose to some _ hair _,” he said quickly as he moved back to the dresser and out the door. Naruto stared when he came back with a determined smile and bright eyes. In his hands were another comb and a wide hairbrush. 

Naruto felt a matching smile forming on his face outside of his control. It stretched his face in a way his usual smiles _ (smile, look normal, be happy, never look mad, never let them win) _ never did, felt better. It felt like he _ wanted _ to smile, and he never wanted to stop. 

“Lets do this,” He agreed with Shimome.

*****

Another broken comb, a brush with significantly bent bristles, a slightly tender scalp, and many newly learned curses on Naruto’s part _ (he’s pretty sure they were curses. They sounded really weird, but Shimome said them in the same way Matron did when she hit her foot on the other kids toys or when she caught him in the rafters spying on lessons) _, and Naruto’s long hair was finally dred, knot, and kink free. It was really fluffy now, actually.

“Oh my gosh. We did it,” Shimome breathed.

“Yeah! It’s my hair, it won’t beat me, dattebayo! You gonna braid it now?” Naruto enjoyed the feeling of this. Of accomplishing something, no matter how small or silly, and celebrating it with someone. Rama tou-san congratulated him on things, or even taught him stuff, but he was Rama tou-san. He was always grumpy, and he only even liked Naruto because Naruto wasn’t really all human like his other jinchuuriki were. He said so. When Shimome was working on detangling his hair, they talked and laughed and Shimome never once told him to shut up or be quiet or that he was annoying or didn’t make sense. Naruto didn’t really want it to stop.

“Yeah, I’m gonna french braid it, so it’s even less likely to get tangled,” Shimome said as he parted it into two sections straight down his head and tied the left side into a low side ponytail. “Jazz taught me how to braid. I did her hair a lot when she was at college. She’s not here now, so I can only practice on myself.”

“Was she your sister?” Naruto asked as his head was tilted up so he looked at the ceiling.

“A long time ago. She’s in another world now.” Shimome’s voice was a lot sadder than before, and Naruto almost wanted to stop, but he needed to know.

“Oh. Was she the same as you an’ me?” Naruto felt Shimome’s hands stop for a moment before he tilted his head forwards again.

“The same how?” His voice didn’t sound like anything now, and Naruto kinda regretted asking, but he’d made it this far.

**[Idiot kit! Make a joke, laugh, play it off or lie, just stop! Do not provoke him!] **Tou-san roared in his head. Naruto winced a bit but soldiered on.

“Different, ya’know? Like, not like everyone else. We’ve got more chakra, and we can use nature chakra without turning to stone or, or standing still for a long time, and tou- and humans can’t do that,” Naruto rushed through his words the longer he spoke and winced again as Rama tou-san roared at his almost slip. It was quiet for a long time after, and he only knew Shimome was still even moving because he kept feeling his hair being tugged.

Shimome only spoke after he’d finished the right side all the way down and tied off the braid. He was finger combing through the left side quickly before tilting Naruto’s head up again when he answered.

“No, she was all human. I don’t think we’re exactly the same, but you are right. Neither of us are like anyone or anything else, and we’re the closest thing to each other. It’s not bad or anything, but it does mean that other people may not understand us all the time. So we gotta keep it a secret, and we gotta stick together, okay Naruto?” Shimome sounded really serious, but Naruto still couldn’t stop the big smile taking over his face and the warm feeling in his chest from rising again. Shimome was different too, and he wasn’t mad, he wanted to work _ together _. Naruto had always had Kurama tou-san, but he was just in his head. Sure, he could heal his scrapes and burn out the poisons in some of his food, or make sure he never got sick even when on the streets, but he couldn’t give him a hug, or go to the playground, or make him food, or, or-

“Will you be my friend, dattebayo?!” Naruto blurted out. He almost turned his head, but remembered that Shimome was still doing his hair and he shouldn’t move.

“Well, I’d hope I was your friend. We’re already having a sleepover and standard, official friend activities like doing hair and trading secrets. All that’s left are games, gossip, and shit talking all our least favorite people,” Shimome laughed.

“Oh, oh, can we do those next, dattebayo? An’, an’ you can teach me to braid so that next time I can do your hair too!” Naruto was practically bouncing in place, and he was sure that the smile on his face was the biggest one he’d ever had.

“Of course. And we shall seal it with the unbreakable promise of all friends everywhere, sacred among men and all beings.” A hand appeared in front of Naruto’s face with all the fingers in a fist except the smallest. 

“A pinky promise. You link your pinky with mine and we shake.” Shimome added when Naruto stared for a bit too long. He eagerly complied, shouting his promise to the world as he pumped his other hand to the sky.

**[Oh Sage, there’s two of you now.] **Tou-san rumbled.

Later, they curled on the mattress with smiles, memories of giggles, card games, gossip of the customers to the shop and the silliest things the other kids at the orphanage got up to filling their minds. Naruto was sure that Shimome was a true angel, and that he was the best friend to ever be. He’d get super strong and be the best shinobi and make sure no one ever tried to call Shimome a demon or treat him bad ever.

*****

IDK how to add pics: <https://www.deviantart.com/jacqgem/art/Braiding-813312184>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Virtual high gives to any who can guess why Shimome had an orange outfit like that.  
If you can't tell, the Hanoshis aren't actually that bad other than Namadoku. But they are not helped in any way cuz Shimome just, doesn't want to like them. At all. Tenka, Akane, and Rokka manage to get under his skin anyway.  
If anyone is wondering why Shimome is so accepting/ instantly opening to Naruto, it's heavily implied that Naruto reminds Shimome of Dani, who was his little sister who he helped raised and felt responsible for and probably would have ended up legally adopting if they ever lived to a time when Danny was about 20 or so. Basically, he's been trying to suppress his Obsession and therefore attachment to people by distancing himself to those around him by saying they don't need him and by comparing them to his past and finding them wanting, but he can't use those against Naruto as much so his suppressed Obsession kinda pounces.  
On Naruto's part, his only had favorable interactions have been with Kurama, who is not human, and other children before the adults get to them, so in his mind Shimome is both not human and a child without adult interference, and so should have no reason to not like him.


	4. Who We Were and How We Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I have actually only read up to chunin exams in manga and seen, like, the first four episodes. The rest of what I know is from pieced together fanfic commonalities, wiki research, youtube explanations, and character breakdowns and stuff. I'm honestly okay with that because I'm mostly gonna handle the time of Naruto's pre-genin childhood when there is really not a lot of solid canon as far as I can tell, so if I get something completely, horrible wrong and against canon, please tell me, but otherwise I'm taking artistic license and letting my brain run off the plot structures I've discovered in the canon I do know. (in case you're wondering, I have actually seen all of Danny Phantom, though) Case in point: one of the driving factors behind this fic was how much it bugged me that Naruto was born with his whiskers. I mean, I know they were probably just artistic choice in the beginning, but then the episode/ panels that show Naruto's birth show that he was born with them even before he became a jinchuruki, which technically no one except Obito may know because everyone who knew him before he was a jinchuruki is dead. And if Mito gave birth while being a jinchuruki and not just before cuz what even is the timeline, then it's not just from being a jinchuruki's child cuz then Tsunade would have two whiskers like Boruto, right? (And then i turned it into a crossover, cuz I love those.) I can go on about this, I think a lot, but I'll stop. Anyway;  
WARNINGS:  
Mentions of child neglect and abandonment (Naruto), mentions of miscarriage, pregnancy trouble, allusions to abortion (kinda?), Kurama & the bijuu's imprisonment from their POV, which is, y'know, unjust imprisonment and forced labor to them.  
Basically this is another introspective chapter that tells us how sad everyone is and indulges my need to explain my thoughts before we get to everyone getting happier

Naruto’s life was, well, it was bad. Not the worst! He knew that, he had food (just enough for a normal kid, but not enough for him), a room all to himself (he wasn’t allowed to share, all the other kids were told to stay away from him, even when the other rooms all had at least four kids each), he was never hurt (because no one ever wanted to touch him or acknowledge him or _ just see him, please _ ), he was always safe (because he was never let further than the front gate and even if he _ did _make it past the gate, the masked people that always felt quiet and muffled would bring him back), and, best of all, he had a secret tou-san! None of the other kids in the orphanage had secret tou-sans that taught them chakra or sneaking or anything like it, he knew because tou-san taught him how to properly feel chakra and no one else had a second chakra in them.

But even Kurama tou-san hadn’t always been there. Naruto thinks he was, technically, he’d always been able to feel him and his chakra, and sometimes he would get little warnings or feelings of warmth when his tummy hurt from bad or too little food, but he hadn’t always been able to talk to him. Or known he was there.

So while Naruto _ knew _ his life wasn’t the worst, maybe technically wasn’t even that _ bad _ , it wasn’t all that good either. Or fun. Tou-san helped a lot, especially because he gave him so many _ answers _, but he was still only in his head. Chakra coils. Body, soul, or whatever part of a human you seal chakra beings into. He wasn’t next to him, he couldn’t protect him much (and he may care a little, and Naruto may be becoming better friends with Kurama, but tou-san or not, Kurama wasn’t always nice). But Kurama tou-san gave him answers, explanations, even lessons, and that was enough.

He told him why he could feel so much, like the other kids and how the _ spicy-itchy-hot-heavy _ feelings on their impressions meant anger or the shades of _ sticky-choking-cold _ that meant fear. That the impressions of the kids and matron and masked people were their _ chakra _ and that he was a _ sensor _ because he could use nature chakra. That using nature chakra like he did was not normal (not human). That he wasn’t normal because his human parents trapped his Rama tou-san into him rather than letting him run, and they died for it. That he was only ever born because Kurama was in his human Kaa-chan when she was pregnant and he made sure Naruto was born healthy and strong. That’s why Kurama lets him call him “tou-san”, ‘cause he helped him be born just like his Kaa-chan did.

And there were things that Rama tou-san didn’t tell him, but that Naruto figured out because of the lessons he taught him. Like that the nature chakra he used was making tou-san stronger - bigger - every year. That Kurama’s _ spicy-blaze-earthstrong _ feelings when he talked about his human parents meant that though he was not lying about them or the reasons for their deaths, he had hated them and held no regret. (That he could hate Naruto, too, and the only reason Kurama gave him a chance was because Naruto was somehow a bigger help than hinder, and Kurama wanted to make him be even more helpful) 

Needless to say, not all that much happened in the first four years of Naruto’s life. Kurama only started speaking to him when he was almost three, and it made life a bit more bearable, but still lonely and, frankly, boring. He spent a lot of time using his senses to try to explore the village - the _ small-bright-soft _ of children who didn’t have distinct, personal energy - chakra - impressions, the smells of the morning, the spring, the vendors nearby, the sounds of the birds, the sales people, the Matron, the other children laughing, the boring, icky taste of the same food over and over (the smells and tastes that meant food would make his stomach hurt and the warmth - Kurama - heavier), the feel of the walls of his room, the yard dirt on his feet (hair, face, arms when the other kids pushed him away from their games). Sometimes, when the hidden masked people were _ spring-sprout-growth _ or _ lightning-dog-drain _, Naruto would sneak up to the roof and watch the sun burn the houses red and orange, would look as far as the walls and promise himself that he’d make it outside someday.

When he’d found Kurama in the stone tunnels of his mind, or more accurately, when Kurama brought him to his cage, he’d been surprised and scared of the big fox a little, but he was more excited because there was something _ new _. He’d spent ages exploring his mindscape, the tunnels covered in phosphorescent moss, the marshes and currents that flowed between the islands with soft grasses. It was still a dark tunnel, and it seemed almost like a sewer sometimes because of all the pipes on the walls, but there was no bad smells, and it felt complete. Kurama said the pipes and currents represented their chakra, how they flowed from Naruto and Kurama and back, the nature chakra going straight through Naruto to make Kurama bigger. He even taught him how to control it a bit! Apparently, having nature chakra coursing through him since birth had made Naruto able to mimic it, and it made him pretty hard to find. Naruto thinks that is part of why he’s not supposed to go outside. Tou-san taught him to amplify that, to use it. To keep his chakra looking exactly like the nature around it no matter what he felt and sneak past the gates to explore the village. It took the masked people a lot longer to find him when he felt like nature chakra, apparently. 

He thinks that might be why the Matron kicked him out. He wasn’t trying to be _ bad_, he just wanted to explore! All the other kids got to go out on trips to the playground or go to lessons outside the orphanage or even go with Matron on shopping trips! Naruto knew she didn’t want him to leave, that he was supposed to stay inside and stuff ‘cause of tou-san, but it wasn’t fair! He didn’t ask his human parents to trap tou-san, and he didn’t wanna spend his whole life stuck in the orphanage! Besides, some of the big kids were going to the Academy, and he heard (spied) them talking about how all the “clan kids” had a bunch of training already, and Naruto wanted to be the best ninja ever, so he needed to train as much as possible before the Academy! (Kurama said being a shinobi was stupid because the village was just gonna use him, and that the Academy would be useless because Kurama could destroy any ninja, but he also said that Naruto wasn’t allowed to be a boring civilian who would get themselves killed on a walk, and he taught him lots that would make him a better shinobi, so Naruto just tries to phrase it as learning to be the strongest and takes the lessons. Kurama also says that he had better do better than any “stupid, cowardly, tricking, meddling, red-eyed _ Uchiha _”, whatever that means.)

Naruto had only been able to have chakra hiding and sensing lessons with tou-san because they were both trying to learn how to train a human body. (Kurama tou-san was a very big, very strong, very scary chakra fox that didn’t really need exercise. Or jutsu. Or human body mechanisms and fighting abilities.) Once Naruto was able to hide his chakra always, they would usually leave the orphanage and go spy on the Academy lower level exercises and practices to try and learn the basics. (They’d tried spying on the official shinobi training fields first, but they summarily did not know what was happening.) The rest of the day was spent either exploring, or back in Naruto’s room, in his mindscape practicing chakra manipulation and sensing.

But the point is, Naruto didn’t mean to be a disruption! He even stuck to a schedule and came back everyday for lunch and dinner and sleep if he left! Matron still threw him out a week after his fourth birthday with a backpack of two pairs of clothes, three sandwiches, a water bottle, and instructions to not come back, ever. He tried to return the next day, but it didn’t work, and she still didn’t let him in. Kurama tou-san told him that she wouldn’t help him. At first, Naruto thought that the masked people could help, but the ones he felt the most felt like _ pain-syrup-trap-choke-silence _, felt wrong and bad and he didn’t want to know what they’d do if they couldn’t take him back to the orphanage.

So they figured it out. Naruto found that the shops didn’t like him, wouldn’t let him in, and if he tried to argue too much, the bad masked people would start to come find him. He found out that Kurama knew lots of ways to hunt birds and fish and rabbits in the forests around the training grounds. That some shops had food they threw out after hours that was still perfectly good, if cold or a little stale. It was hard, and Naruto didn’t always catch something, or make it to the bins, and his stomach hurt a lot because even when he got food, it was never enough because he needed more food than the usual person. Rama tou-san made sure he was never too cold at night, that he had another set of senses looking for the masked people and mean store owners. Naruto thought that things were going relatively well, until a bakery store owner caught him digging in his bin right before closing. He was mad, really mad, and he was calling the police and chasing Naruto, so he ran and ran and ran. He ran far and, and he cried. Because it was too much, he was tired and hungry and weak and tou-san may be in his head but he was so _ scared _ . He didn’t get it. Why did everyone hate him? Why did the people all decide to not like him? He wasn’t Kurama! He wasn’t the Kyuubi! He wasn’t a monster, or a demon, or bad, he wasn’t, he wasn’t, _ he was not! _ So he ran until he couldn’t feel the police or the mean owner, and then he just kept running. Running to the only place in the village that he felt something as big and wild and natural as Kurama (as not-all-human as him). 

It turned out to be a good decision, even if he wasn’t really thinking at the time. The best not-decision Naruto had ever made. Until he woke up to a scream and a shove to the ground.

*****

Kurama does not _ regret _ . He does not dwell on mistakes because he does not make them. He did not attack the petty humans unless their malice and hatred were so concentrated in one area that there was no hope for them. (If he seemed to attack more and more often, it was obviously because humans became more and more awful, certainly not because he had been run ragged, had found _ hope _ to be more and more tiresome to hold on to and so much quicker to run out) He did not speak to his siblings, who also kept to their own territories, and it was _ fine _ . The Sage, his Father, and even the human siblings that had led to his demise were all gone and _ it didn’t matter _ . People forgot what the bijuu were, forgot the Sage’s (Father’s) teachings and chose to perpetuate war and death and _ ninjutsu _ , and it. Didn’t. **Matter** . At least it hadn’t, until that upstart of an Uchiha had gone and used his stupid eyes to make Kurama attack the humans and village he held a petty, stupidly human hatred for. Which had led to him being sealed, trapped, cornered into a stupid, self- entitled vixen of an Uzumaki. She may have seemed perfect and nobly self-sacrificing to all the other humans around her, but he knew. Knew that she may not have planned it, may not have liked it at first, she was more curious and cunning and _ proud _ than scared. She became more and more arrogant and sure the longer he was contained, kept him beat down and locked away as she stole his chakra and poked and prodded at his very self. 

And still it had not been enough, no, she hadn’t stopped at him, she’d caught and bound and _ gifted _ his siblings to their enemies and allies like _ slaves _ , like _ things _ and _ tools _ to be used and bartered. They called them by numbers, reduced them to weapons and named them demons as they destroyed any and everything they didn’t understand for nothing but their _ pride. _ Pride and hate, the human evil that had torn his family to bits. They hated them and condemned them as they took every advantage of their existence and called it _ fair. _ Called it _ right, _ called it _ justice _, as if Kurama and his siblings had ever wanted to interfere with humans and their wars.

He had been furious. Still was, because the Uzumaki witch hadn’t even let him rest and reform upon her death, no, she discovered a way to put him in a new cage right before it. The new one, another Uzumaki witch, was just as bad. Worse, even, because she’d had a _ choice, _and she’d chosen this. Kurama might have been composed more of hatred and rage than chakra at that point, but he was not a mindless beast. He knew not to blame the children for their prior's sins, just as he knew that children were not always as blameless as their predecessors. (He may hate and hate and rage, but he refused to be part of their petty human cycle. His reasons for hating any specific human more than usual disdain and lack of benefit of the doubt were always well deserved.)

The new one was younger, maybe, and not a direct descendant of the old, but she was still practically the same. She instantly faced him with prideful, ignorant fury and chained him down. He may have blamed and hated the first witch for being too greedy, but he hated the second for her ignorance. He’d tried to explain, to bargain with the first, eventually. After the battle, after years of being trapped and drained, he didn’t even want revenge - well, he did, but he had wanted to be _ free _ more. He’d tried to promise to leave her village alone, even protect it on his own terms, if she'd just let him go. She’d refused. She’d said he was a demon, that he was best suited as a tool to the true protectors of Konoha (which was a stupid name, they weren't hidden at all). So he hated her.

The second, the second was worse in her ignorance. He never offered her the same deal, never bothered to even try to explain himself, because he knew she would not listen. Like the first, she kept him locked down and ignored anything he said at all times, never even thought to question the legends of his deeds and evils. So he had nothing to do but wait, and rage, and make it as difficult and painful as possible for her to use his chakra. Then, she’d gone and gotten a tod. He couldn’t see everything she did, not without great effort, but he did have access to her memories, especially her subconscious. She couldn’t keep anything from him for long, not really, not so long as he tried to make sense of the mess that is the human mind.

She’d gotten a tod, and she felt so- so- so _ happy. _ So _ free, _ and _ safe, _ and _ loved _ with him and he _ hated it. _ She hated and chained and drained him and she was allowed to be _ happy?! _ No. He couldn’t really refuse her chakra, he couldn’t break the seal, he couldn’t even take over her body or influence her to madness, but he _ would _do something to take her happiness. Eventually, he’d vowed to find someway to hurt her as much as she tortured him.

And he had. Found a way, that is. It was an accident at first, really. He only realized later what had happened. There’d been a battle, and after weeks in the field fighting, the vixen had seen fit to steal his chakra to use. He’d fought her, of course, and even the chakra she’d stolen had been full of all the burning malice he could muster- which was quite a lot. It was after the battle that he noticed that her chakra felt… off. He couldn’t quite pinpoint why it felt so, but something was wrong. A few days later, by his count, the chakra surrounding his cage had been filled with sorrow, horror, and a soul deep kind of pain.

He’d assumed that she had discovered her tod was dead or something of the sort, as the feeling was close to the time she was despondent for weeks when her home village fell, but a quick look into her subconscious told him differently. It had been covered in blood, so much blood in a bathroom, and then a cold hospital room with the words “you lost them” over and over in an alternately clinical, sorrowful, and accusatory voice. In retrospect, it was almost amazing the vixen noticed anything was wrong at all. She’d been three weeks pregnant when she’d used his chakra on the battlefield. The fetus was not even as wide as a blade of grass, the barest hint of a heartbeat and chakra coils forming. He’d apparently noticed the tiny being’s absence, as it’s growth had snuck up on both of them in the jailer's two weeks of battle.

He hadn’t meant to. It wasn’t even fully his fault, two weeks of constant battle at the very beginning of a pregnancy was not wise in any circumstances, his malice filled chakra had just happened to be the last straw. But… but she was so _ sad _ for once, and it was because of him in a way. She spent ages in battles, wars, even surviving her entire families fall, and only now was she experiencing a pain that could compare to the torment he and his siblings had been subjected to. (She barely spent any time blaming him, assuming that drawing his chakra forward was her fault. Which, it was, but… She’d had the most convenient excuse _ right there _, and she’d already blamed him for so much- why not that?)

And he didn’t really like it, but- He was just so _ angry _ and _ helpless _ and he wanted to make her _ hurt. _ So he’d used the little leeway the seal gave him, constantly cycled burning chakra into her body, just enough that no egg or sperm would ever even attach to her womb, that they would never even be fully fertilized, even when she tried. (And it wasn’t _ bad. _She did the same to herself when taking preventive herbs, he wasn’t destroying fetuses or even zygotes, just ensuring that she would never be pregnant. Children were the one soft, kind things in the world. When young, their chakra was a balm compared to the hatred and sadness of everyone else, but even that only lasted the first decade, if they were lucky.)

And then there was the brat. Apparently, instead of rendering all her eggs barren, some had _ adapted _ . It had taken her ages longer than she’d wished, but she had gotten it. She was pregnant. It was a tenacious thing, and he didn’t know what to do. (She was still so _ happy, _ and he still hated it, but he couldn’t-) He’d let it grow, one month, two, a small part of his mind justifying it by saying he’d get rid of it later, give her hope and rip it away, but then the little brat had decided to die all on it’s own. And he’d panicked. It had been so small, not even the size of a fig, and yet already so big, with stubby limbs and tiny appendages under a head just forming its brain. Kurama honestly doesn’t know what happened, but suddenly the little brat’s heart (so tiny, not even fully formed) began to slow, and the brain thing in its head started growing sideways and Kurama just- reacted. He tried so hard and he doesn’t even know what he did, he just projected as much balanced, living chakra he could at the thing’s miniscule chakra coils (still so free and not even properly anchored to tenketsu points) and told them, impressed the idea and will that they should _ work _ . That they should heal the body they belonged to to how it should be, and when that failed a bit because _ apparently _ the body just wanted to grow wrong, he directed the chakra (his and the brat’s, but mostly his carving paths for the brat’s to follow, so that it would _ live _ ), showing it how to flow, how to heal, how to keep the body healthy and growing and _ living. _ It was time consuming work, because every time he thought the brat had it down, and he backed away, they would go and try to die in a new way all over again! Or simultaneously decide that the eyes or ears wouldn’t be connected to the brain, or that the heart should have little holes, or the brain should lack the ability to connect to the spine, or some other, new way to leave the ki- _ brat _ likely to die in its first growth stage.

He honestly doesn’t actually remember much of the vixen’s emotions or thoughts during that period, only that there seemed to be an underlying happiness around him and she had at some point tried to stuff him far, far down and completely block him from her chakra paths and body. He didn’t fight much, because that just meant that she didn’t notice his chara working to assist the kit (he’d almost panicked, before realising that the seal kept him from _ her _ body and _ her _ chakra, but the kit was growing independently of her and yet inside her, so they were still within his reach ( _ he could still save them, still make up for his stupid rage) _ ). When he realized that the kit- _ BRAT! _ was formed enough to be born (still so tiny, so weak, so reliant on others to live) and that its chakra was sustaining itself properly, merely cradled in his own instead of directed by it, he’d been... sad. Accomplished, smug, proud, and awed that he’d genuinely made _ life _ , that for once he’d been in time to heal instead of left to rage, but he knew what came next. Knew the ki- yes, the kit would be born and grow and taught to hate him just as everyone else. Sage, they would probably be his next cage seeing as the rest of the Uzumaki were unavailable and that Kurama was sure he’d inadvertently made them well beyond able to handle his chakra. But for now the kit only knew him as the chakra that warmed and guided and healed it, for now it welcomed him and held no malice or anger or even fear (he made sure they _ never _ had a reason to fear). And he would mourn the loss of the kit when it was born (when he lost it, and he was sure this was some sort of karmic repayment for the vixen’s other brat _ (and the ones he kept from being a possibility) _), but he would not (could not) care for it after. If- when they met again, the ki- brat would be his enemy, his jailer, and he would not help them. Kurama would hold on to his hate, he would not be swayed. (And if he held on to the memory of the small kit who he helped grow and care for, who he had saved and loved in the infinitely short time he had them, if he tucked those feelings deep in the back of his mind with the memories of the Sage (his Father) and times when his siblings loved and cared for one another, well, no mortals would ever find out)

*****

And then the Brat (he didn’t know what the humans had named it, he hadn’t looked _ (he’d named them Mochi, argued that it would help him remove the kit from the jailer it’d become _ _<strike> (he’d thought it fit, Mochi. Here and lost and beyond his reach, just like hope)</strike> _ _ ) _ ) had been born. Or more accurately, the day of birth was the most completely FUBAR day that Kurama had ever experienced. And he’d been around for a long time, had practically coined the concept of “hope for the best, prepare for the worst” (they were technically all the same age, but he was the strongest and therefore the “oldest” and his siblings were _ absolutely _ the reason he had no patience), so that was saying a lot. He’d barely had time to properly rage, even! Another _Uchiha _ had dragged him out of the vixen, and then _ controlled _ him, made him attack the same petty village, and he’d gotten caught and sealed before he could just run, _ all. Over. **Again. **_ It became even worse when he’d realized it was the vixen’s tod that was sealing him, that they were not going to seal him back into the vixen, but into Mo- the ki- THE BRAT. (he’d hoped that they would at least let him disperse with the vixen, that they’d let him be free, that Mochi would never be his personal enemy if he could help it)

He’d tried to stop them, tried to kill the brat even in a last ditch attempt (he’d already convinced himself that Mochi had died the second the brat had been born and out of his reach, he could handle one more measly human death, it may even be kinder than letting it live in this hate filled world _(liar)_) to be free in some way, especially after the tod had ripped away his Yin half. It hadn’t worked, and though he had some satisfaction in adding pain to both the tod and the vixen’s ends, it paled in the face of being trapped in the brat, being made a slave again because- because what? The tod thought that he was too useful a weapon, that the pale hope that a barely born brat could contain even half of the greatest bijuu’s chakra (and how could he? How could he risk his kit like that, how could he just assume that the brat wouldn’t just die from overload? The tod had no idea that Kurama had spent the pregnancy healing and improving the kit, making him stronger and more durable than any human newborn really had any right to be. How could he leave his kit to be so helpless and ready to be used like that? Just as much a tool and a weapon and a _ slave _ as Kurama himself) was greater than just letting him die?

When it was over, when the vixen and tod were dead and he was sealed in _ Naruto _ (and what kind of name was that? He was so much better at naming, humans were dumb), when his rage and shock had settled just a bit, and he’d focused on his old past time of stretching his chakra out against the seal as much as he could, he’d noticed. Noticed how much more range he had, how much more connected to the brat’s chakra he was, (how the kit’s chakra still recognized him, still trusted and welcomed and _loved_ him in that bumbling, unconscious way of kits not yet able to truly think) how he could still feel the _ world _ . It was a little harder, and he had to be careful not to smother or harm the kit lest he activate the seal’s safeguards and be shunted back to the cage when trying, but he could thread minuscule bits of his own chakra _ through _ the seal and the kit’s chakra and feel the natural chakra of the world. It took even longer to realize that he wasn’t just able to feel _ out _ , but thatthe kit was taking nature chakra _ in _. That the chakra was being directed to him, was healing him, that sometimes it didn’t even need to be converted because apparently there were bits of his Yin chakra in the village.

Admittedly, he’d panicked a little again. He didn’t spend a lot of time observing humans, but he distinctly remembered that humans who used too much nature chakra turned to stone or something, and he didn’t want that for hi- the kit. But he spent ages waiting, and eventually he came to the conclusion that the kit somehow took after him more than the humans in that aspect. (HA! Who’s the better progenitor _ now _ , stupid humans?!) And then he observed the brat’s surroundings. How no humans would approach him unless necessary, only touching him for the bare minimum basic care needed to live. How they whispered, said his markings were growing (what markings?), how he was a demon child and not to be trusted. Kurama initially made contact out of a moment of pity and righteous anger that these humans _ dare _ to treat _ his kit _ so poorly, and sometimes he- does not _ regret_, Kurama doesn’t _ do _ regret. Just, maybe thinks he miscalculated. (Sometimes, he can’t take it. He hates the kit’s tod that left him, hates the village that hurts him like it hurts Kurama, hates that he cannot do more, _ (fears that the kit will leave him too, no matter what he calls him. That he will find out all his secrets and all his rage and will choose to hate him just as his predecessors did, and that Kurama will have put his hope in the wrong thing all over again) _ so he tells the kit everything. Tells him more than kits should really know, tries to drive him away, even as he longs to keep him close and safe and _ loved _ , as if he were still a tiny thing in a womb and not a human _ (is he though?) _ that will inevitably enter the cycle of hatred.)

He heard the crowds that gathered at the orphanage’s gates, demanding to see the demon child or complaining that he was “allowed” to wander around. He made sure Naruto was out exploring at those times. Made sure he was too preoccupied with new things to explore to pay attention to the far away sounds at the orphanage. He knew that the Matron kicked them out over the stress and fear of the crowds more than out of her fear of Naruto. He was wary of the chakra-that-was-not-chakra across town, always directing the kit away from it. He didn’t know what to do when they were on the street, really. At first he was sure they’d be fine, but then he’d been more and more sure he was _ wrong _ because Naruto was more scared than he’d ever been in his life, even as he tried to hide it from him (and he was sure that was wrong, too. That Naruto wasn’t supposed to be scared of someone he calls tou-san, but he couldn’t get rid of it, not when he was still so sure _ (scared) _ that Naruto would learn to hate him, too). So, when Naruto runs and runs and runs toward what his mind thinks is safe (and isn’t it nice to know that, no matter how he presents himself, Naruto’s first instinct remains to be that Kurama is _ safe _ ), Kurama does not stop him. Instead, he braces for when this other being (what is he? He feels like a bijuu, like a human, like Naruto, but that’s impossible!) turns on them as everything is want to do. Braces for the morning, when he feels the fear and anger and hate of the grown human in the house wake them and rip the other away (debates if he should console the _ (his) _ kit like he wants, or taunt him about how he cannot trust anyone _ (shouldn’t trust him) _).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the cliff hanger, but the next section is definitely gonna be a different mood (I think. I hope) and I wanted to post this first.  
ABOUT the miscarriage and later prevented pregnancies: honestly, it was the worst luck that Kushina even found out that she had miscarried, cuz at three weeks the human fetus is approximately the size of a pin head and not even technically a fetus, so it would have been more likely that Kushina just thought she had a bad and late period if she hadn't been having an after-battle check-up. at three weeks, the chambers for the heart and blood vessels develop, and the first tiny heartbeats start at four weeks, so lets pretend that chakra starts forming around the baby just before the heart starts, hence Kurama feeling something off. Kushina's BFF was Uchina Mikoto, who had Itachi approximately seven or so years before Sasuke, it's reasonable to assume Kushina might have tried to have a baby before Naruto. Naruto's almost miscarriage itself, well- I'm taking a child development class, and the amount of things that can go wrong in a pregnancy is frankly terrifying. I don't have a specific, but Kurama has fixed it now (for a chakra being that has no idea how the human body actually works measure of fixed)  
REMINDER: these are POV. Naruto is a smol child and cannot actually read all of Kurama's moods. Kurama is both right and wrong in a lot of ways. Mito and Kushina and Minato are not as bad as presented, or at least I'm not trying to bash or judge their canon characters cuz, like, I don't know them well, but Kurama is within his rights to hate them. He sees things as a mix of what it is from his POV, and what he chooses to interpret so he can be "justifiably" mad. Also, he has a lot of asides and thoughts cuz the poor dude's spent the last, idk, 70-100 years in what essentially amounts to solitary confinement. He is Not Okay. If you didn't catch it, Kurama was a sad dramatic fox when he named fetus!Naruto Nozomu 望む , which is what google translate says for "hope".  
Male foxes are sometimes called tods.  
Kurama has also decided that he is a he cuz at first he didn't know there was a "she" option cuz the only humans he knew were the Sage, Indra, and Asura. Then he decided it didn't matter anyway so he'd copy his Dad. Then he was trapped in Mito and Kushina and reaffirmed this cuz he refused to be like them in any way so long as he could help it.  
I don't know if people have noticed, but I'm trying really hard not to make Shimome or Naruto completely OP right off the bat. Yes, their current powers give them severe advantages, but only cuz ppl don't plan for their specific powers. I have plans for these new, itty bitty baby immortals who do not yet know they are immortal. One day they will be as OP as the bijuu (which, canon grown Naruto already is OP, he only doesn't seem it because his opponents keep getting harder to beat, too, and Danny's powers are basically OP whenever ppl can't stop or don't expect ghosts) but that is a bit away. Also, they will not have giant forms like bijuu so they gotta learn to max out their power without being able to literally stomp away their opponents  
Naruto's growing "markings"... hehehe, I have plans! he doesn't just randomly have freckles now ;) (though, yeah, a lot of their hobbies/ random likes will be just cuz I think they're cool)  
Other side note: none of the characters actually know what's happening. Shimome doesn't actually know how he's immortal, or the specifics of the portal ritual. Kurama thinks that Minato made the seal like that on purpose, mostly. The Shinigami will never get the time off to examine Shimome or explain what he did to Naruto and Kurama's seal and why. They're just gonna be like "wow, there are so many coincidences in our lives" and then wonder. At some point in the far future, it'll probably drive Shimome's inner Danny-the-conspiracy-theorist crazy, but he will have no proof! Naruto just goes with it. They will never know the whole story...


	5. The Good in the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wanted to mention that Tenka and Rokka's parents apparently have very unoriginal naming sense, because Tenka also means snow/ snowflake, with Ten 天 = sky and Ka 花 = flower  
Gifts for taking long, Some of my favorite fics that I can read over and over (and probably inspired this at some point):  
Naruto: (unfortunately most are unfinished, but the content they have is so worth it)  
\+ https://archiveofourown.org/works/2693774 - About Face by wroth_and_ruin - "A little yellow-haired boy saves Sakura from the bullies. And everything changes." childhood canon-divergence w/ baby Sakura and Naruto being the best of friends  
\+ https://archiveofourown.org/series/1151954 - Brother to You series by Inrainbowz - childhood canon-divergence where orphans Sasuke and Naruto adopt each other (and then everyone else)  
\+ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12827034/1/Accidental-Providence - Accidental Providence by Araceil - "Accidents happen, and sometimes by design. Naruto was determined to become a Genin, it was just his luck that this year they were being tested in the Kawarimi instead of the Bunshin due to a single lazy Admin-chuunin." canon-divergence, Naruto graduates early & is on Team 3 w/ Jonin-sensei Gai, Neji, and Tenten  
\+ https://archiveofourown.org/works/14027274 - The Rift That Tore This World in Two by ThreeSorrows - canon divergence, jinchuuriki family, slightly fix it- What if all the Jinchuuriki could talk to and meet each other in a shared room in their mindscape?  
More I like but won't put here in my bookmarks  
Danny Phantom: (mostly <5k one shots)  
\+ https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12405749/1/Vanishing-Point - Vanishing Point by Synaps - "Sometimes when you blow secrets out of proportion, they grow to fit."  
\+ https://m.fanfiction.net/s/8034230/1/Halfa - Halfa by JustTeahPlease - "No, the ghosts don't attack Phantom because he's a halfa, an abomination belonging to neither world. They attack because, deep down, they are afraid of him. -Just some musings over a halfa's lair."  
\+ https://m.fanfiction.net/s/5414886/1/Eternity-in-a-Moment - by JustTeahPlease - "Never mess with mythical ghost-made items, especially not time medallions with their own special ectoplasm. NEVER stick it into a halfa and send him through a portal. Nevermind Dan's genius, he was an idiot too. Angst Day fic"  
\+ https://archiveofourown.org/works/16015694 - Shots Fired by RedHeadsRock1010 - "School shooter meet Danny Fenton. Vlad Masters does not get paid enough to deal with this." not a one shot, complete, >5k, part of a series  
and of course, the best Danny Phantom & Naruto crossover I could find: (which also happens to be complete)  
\+ https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12709118/1/Ectoplasm-and-Chakra - Ectoplasm and Chakra by Sholay - "When Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius combined to create the catastrophe that would plague Amity Park for ten years, everyone assumed Danny Fenton died. But the truth is far different. Stranded in a strange new land, a world-weary Danny meets a young Naruto Uzukmaki. It is an odd turnabout to be only 'ordinary' in a village of the extraordinary… TUE timeline; Naruto prequel." Sad Danny works through his problems while adopting Konoha orphans (which, shoot, that's kinda what I'm going for in mine too, huh? oops. well, that one is complete, awesome, beautifully written, no messy reincarnation or stuff, and significantly less weird rants)
> 
> If no one can notice, I usually read introspective, kinda sad, or crossover Danny Phantom fics because I was mostly satisfied with the series, other than Phantom Planet of course, while I like Naruto childhood fix-its because I haven't even read all of it and I already want them to have, just, so much better childhoods and better support. If you read them, feel free to come scream about them to me!

**I'm sorry, this ramble is too long for the Author's note but I needed to say it, you are free to skip to the chapter**

(Okay, keep in mind that all the names I make up are from Google translate) So! If anyone who has read this before bothered to go and read from the beginning or something, you may have noticed a change. Kurama, sad fox that he is, decided to name fetus!Naruto “Hope”, which was originally 望む Nozomu, as per the Google translate answer for hope from English to Japanese. However, when playing around with translate, and switching it from English -> Japanese to Japanese-> English, the characters 望む Nozomu actually give you “wish” as the main translation, not hope. But deleting the second character so it’s just 望 makes the Japanese translate to “hope” in English. The absolute best part? The character 望 is apparently read as… 

*druuuummmm roooollllllll*...

*more suspense*...

MOCHI! After checking multiple times and laughing myself silly, I decided that this was too good to pass up. So, Kurama has now officially and unironically named his fetus child Mochi, supposedly meaning hope, while criticizing Kushina and Minato’s decision to name their kid Naruto, which he thinks means fish cake. My “this-could-totally-happen-and-make-sense” reasoning? I’ve stated before that Kurama does not always know the new or colloquial terms for things because, like, he doesn’t spend all that much time around humans. I don’t think “rice cakes” would have been a word the Sage would teach him, nor would it be something either the Ten Tails or Kaguya would kinda pass on through osmosis (I think? cuz IDK what the bijuu were "born" knowing), nor even something he would pick up in his long life because really, when is he gonna learn what all the little human foods that he barely sees and never eats are called? He knows “naruto” can mean fish cake because Kushina’s subconscious information pool includes ramen vocabulary (hehe), but “naruto” for maelstrom is a fairly obscure/ less used translation (as far as I can tell from Google translate), and, as stated before, he wasn’t paying attention to their naming process. So, Naruto’s names are totally, unironically, “Naruto” meaning “maelstrom” but always interpreted as “fish cake”, and “Mochi” meaning “hope” but always interpreted as “rice cake”. It just… it feels so _ dumb_, but it fits so well that I couldn’t resist. Sorry kid, you get absolutely no breaks.

**Chapter now:**

*****

Tenka liked to think she was a fairly independent, patient, open-minded person. She is proud of her shop and her life, especially when she looks around and sees so few truly working women. She is proud of her ability to rise above her family's oppressive views, and even if she couldn’t get Rokka to completely break away from them, she’d taught her to do as she liked and never more or less. So she was proud of Rokka, too, for managing to make a family that makes her happy while not letting them control her. 

In short, Tenka prided herself on being able to see through society's bull and make her own opinions and her own way. She had a nephew that she’d thought was a niece and was the most opinionated, independent, random, and free-spirited little monster she’d ever had the pleasure of meeting, and when Tenka meant independent, she meant _independent. _Smarter than he would ever let on, too. Maybe not the smartest, but more knowledgeable than any child with his age and life experience should ever be. At times he acted like he could care less what any of them did, or like he was merely humoring their need to see a child by existing in the same space as them. And yet he chose to spend most of his time with Tenka, in Tenka’s shop, learning Tenka’s trade and existing around her, looking up to her for the few things or instances of advice he needed from an actual adult. And it made Tenka proud of herself, that Shimome, with all his independence and casual disregard for his family (minus Akane at times), still found her worthy to ask direction from.

Oh, the disregard still irks. Still makes her simmer at night and ache for her sister who tries _so hard. _She wants to shake Shimome and make him wake up and see that there is a world beyond himself, beyond his opinions and actions. But then there are the days where Shimome is so quiet, so small and lost in his own skin, twitchy and sad like he’s constantly looking for something (someone) he knows he won’t find. Those days, Tenka is less proud and more bone deeply relieved that Shimome chooses to come and make something that always seems to make him feel better. Tenka has no idea where he gets his designs, but on the worst days, when he won’t even leave the closet of a room she made for him, when he bundles himself in his rainbow of odd clothes and eats only the overly sweet and soft chocolate concoction and the baked disks of dough, pureed tomatoes, and cheese, she is glad they exist for the modicum of comfort they give him.

They were frightening sometimes, his moods and ways. Tenka knows exactly what Shimome has been through in his life, in part because it has been so short, in part because he has been allowed out so little. She knows he should have no reason to act as he does, so alternately aloof and quietly confident and sad and _broken. _ She and Rokka are scared beyond belief that the doctors are missing something in their checkups, that Shimome’s health is more fragile than anyone will tell them, that the- the fox did something to him that no one can track but that harms him nonetheless. And really, it’s just about the only explanation. Shimome is so fragile, so odd in looks and temperament, so- broken. Like a puzzle someone took apart, flipped around, and put back together _wrong. _ And Tenka has researched this, has looked through all the statistics she could, and no other children had survived that night like Shimome. There were a good few pregnant women who did not go into early delivery, but every other one who did had delivered a stillborn or had a miscarriage. Even quite a few children under six months died. So how and why did Shimome live? Tenka doesn’t know, and she doesn’t care much (even if sometimes she wonders if it would have been kinder if the fox had just managed to finish Shimome off like all the others). But she does know that it is all the fox's fault.

So, when Tenka goes to wake her nephew one morning after he has once again stayed the night, surprised is a very mild way to put it when she finds not one but two children with odd hair and twin braids in the tiny bed. At first, she is surprised but edging towards pleased that it seems like Shimome has managed to make a friend. A little exasperated to his methods and scared of the reaction of the other child’s family, but still cautiously glad. Then she recognized the shade of blond, too bold and yellow to be the pale straw of the Yamanaka. The freckles on the upper face that are just too bright to be reasonable brown, instead edging into orange. The seemingly inconspicuous lines, three on each cheek, that could be mistaken for clan markings or very specific scars that give the impression of _ whiskers. _

Tenka has spent a good deal of time listening to the rumors, the whispers, and secrets that the fox was not killed so much as trapped and changed into a new form. And she’d like to think that she’s better, not so closed-minded that she would blame a child as old as her young nephew for the sins of its elders, but she will not let this remnant of the fox near Shimome. She will not let it harm him anymore, will not tolerate it taking what little bits of Shimome it missed from that night, will not allow it to finish the job. Faster than she can truly register it, Tenka has lunged forward and shoved the danger as far from her sleeping (so still) nephew as she can, scooping him up in the same motion. There is a high pitched shriek in the air that Tenka only just realizes is coming from herself, and she nearly trips trying to backtrack out of the room, leading to her clutching her nephew tightly and huddling against the opposite wall as she watches the monster wake.

*****

Dan- Shimome had been having a good dream. It wasn’t quite a memory, but it was close enough to other memories that it felt real. They were having a day out, eating Nasty Burger, Jazz explaining her classes to Mom, Dad shouting asides every other sentence, Sam and Tucker sitting at the table with him, watching Dani and Naruto run around the child play area. Then Sam shoved him hard off the bench and started screaming and didn’t stop and he realized that he wasn’t on the linoleum floor, but being held tight by the source of the screaming.

“-out! Get out! Stay away, monster! Stay away from him, you can’t-”

What was happening? D-Shimome had never heard Tenka this hysterical in, like, ever! Who was she- Oh, _ shhiittt. _ Naruto! Waving his hands and trying to turn in Tenka’s grip was near useless, resulting in even more bruise-worthy grips, but Shimome did manage to catch a glimpse of a bright orange and yellow bundle huddled in the saddest looking ball in the opposite corner of the room. Naruto looked like he’d rolled out of bed right onto the floor, and Shimome can only assume that his awakening was as sudden and surprising as his own. He looked really scared though, with his arms up to defend his face even as he crouched and kept his head down. Shimome only saw his eyes when they darted up to him and the door, but they were shinier in a watery way.

“-eave! I said leave!” Tenka was still screaming, and Shimome had no idea why, but she was screaming at Naruto, was scared of or mad at him for some reason. She was scaring Naruto, and that was not allowed.

“Tenka, stop it!” Shimome’s screams joined hers as he struggled harder against her. “Stop it, you’re scaring him!”

“No, no, Shimome, calm down, it’s fine, I’ve got yo-”

“No! Put me down, stop it!” Talking wasn’t helping, Tenka wasn’t making any sense, and Naruto was tensing even more. It looked like he was about to make a run for it and Shimome couldn’t let that happen, not when he looked so spooked it was likely he wouldn’t come back. Shimome had no clue why Tenka would start panicking at the mere sight of a single kid, even if the said kid was sleeping in her house without her knowing, but he had an inkling that it was linked to the reason Naruto had been homeless for a month.

Naruto dashed for the door, apparently deciding the fact that said path would take him closer to Tenka’s reach was worth the risk to get out and away.

“No! Naruto, wait!” Shimome lunged and grabbed hold of the overly large sleeve of Naruto’s sweater and positioned himself between him and Tenka, glaring at her. “Wait, you don’t have to leave. Tenka is just being mean.”

The screaming seemed to have stopped, at the very least, but Shimome was certain the fear and shock etched into Tenka’s frame might just be worse. Her hands had collapsed to clutch over her heart when he left her grasp.

“WOW! That was awesome, Shimome! You were over there and then you went _through _her and then you were here and that was so _cool, _ dattebayo! How’d you do that?” Naruto’s enthusiastic shouts seemed to have exploded out of him, almost completely erasing his wariness. And, oh schnitzel. He’d just phased through Tenka.

“Like, like you just went ‘whoosh!’ and then you were all the way over here even though the lady was, was holding you… real… tight…” Naruto’s voice trailed off as Tenka’s already pale complexion became chalky and glistened with perspiration. Shimome retightened his grip on Naruto’s sleeve as he weakly tried to tug away while Shimome stepped towards Tenka cautiously.

“Tenka, everything is going to be fine. You just gotta calm down a little, okay, how about you try breathing with me? C’mon, count with me in- two, three, four. Out- two, three, four. In- tw- wait no, that’s not calming-” _ whump-plop-bump. _

“...Is she okay?” Naruto whispered as they stared at the collapsed form of a freshly fainted Tenka. At least her breathing was slowing now. “Oh kami, is she _dead, _dattebayo?! I didn’t do anything, I swear, I’m sorry, oh this is so bad, what if people just keep falling dead around me, I’m gonna hav’ta to live in a forest and eat worms for the rest of forever or something, ‘tebayo, or-”

“Naruto! You have to calm down, too! Nobody’s dead, she just fainted. No one can kill someone just by standing there. Let’s move her to the carpet, alright? And can you grab me the pillow for her, please?” Shimome was freaking out too, but it was always easier to compartmentalize in his experience. He, yet again, had no idea what was happening in his life (he was pretty resigned to never knowing the full story), but he could work with what was in front of him. Naruto scrambled to the bed as he extracted Tenka’s arms from the pile of limbs and began to drag her towards the fluffy carpet in the middle of the room as her body rearranged itself into something resembling a straight line as it was tugged along. He was pretty sorry about how much this was probably going to ache later, but even his enhanced strength and telekinesis could only do so much when he was a very small four year old and trying not to light up the room neon green.

Naruto and he worked in pretty smooth tandem to situate her with a pillow under her head and all her limbs in fairly natural positions on the carpet in silence. Shimome was _the _pro at compartmentalization, but he was concerned about Naruto’s silence. No matter the short amount of time he’s known him and the circumstances they met in, he knew silence and fear did not fit well on Naruto. When Tenka was as reasonably comfortable as two four year olds could make her, Shimome looked to Naruto, who stared back from Tenka’s other side with wide, shiny blue orbs. The air remained still for a short eternity.

“C’mon. I’m gonna make us some breakfast, and we can talk, okay?” He near whispered. If anything, Naruto tensed even more. “I’m not mad or anything, promise. I’m really sorry Tenka was being so mean and loud and scary, but I didn’t want you to leave when you were so scared. We gotta get a new plan now too, ‘cause I thought that Tenka could help you but now we gotta plan it ourselves, and you can’t make a good plan when you’re hungry, so breakfast time, yeah?”

Naruto didn’t exactly relax, but he also didn’t run for the hills when Shimome rounded Tenka’s head and took his hand to lead him to the joint dining room and kitchen. The silence remained as Shimome took out some eggs, rice, and chicken to make breakfast with and continued until two bowls of white rice, chopped chicken, and sunny side up eggs were placed on the table. Naruto startled out of the daze he had been in and raised his head to notice the food. Shimome had observed him being deep in thought, humming to himself every once in a while as he cooked.

“Itadakimasu,” they whispered. Shimome mixed the yolk and egg bits into the dry foods as Naruto ate at a steady pace that was much slower than his enthusiastic shoveling of their dinner from the night before.

“Have you ever met Tenka before?”

A slight pause in his movements before shaking his head in a negative response was the only tell Naruto gave away.

“Do you know why she was scared?”

As he suspected, Naruto just froze for a long moment before he put his chopsticks down and nodded seriously, fear and pain obvious in his pink and glassy eyes.

“...It’s not my fault,” he breathed. “The adults are just _ mean _ and I’m not him, I’m just Naruto, jus’ _ -huff- _ Naruto an’ I don’ wanna be bad but they never _ -sniff- _ let me out an’ they make all the rules unfair an’, an’, an’ yeah _ -hic- _ he’s scary an’ did some bad stuffs a long time ago and hurt people but the attack wasn’t even his _ fault _ but no one’s gonna listens to me an-”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay Naruto,” Shimome rushed to Naruto’s side of the table, enveloping him in a slightly awkward hug seeing as he was sitting on a chair and Shimome wasn’t tall. He stiffened before surging to crush Shimome in his own arms as his tiny chest heaved with the heavy, snotty, ugly sobs of suppressed fear, pain, and sadness all being released simultaneously.

“An’_ -hiccc- _ but _ -sob- _ ‘Rama _ -heave- _ says” Garbled words and gibberish continued to fall between Naruto’s cries as Shimome maneuvered them away from the table to the couches in the living room area.

“Shhh, it’s okay, I have a lot of questions, but I know they’re pretty hard to answer so you can just take your time. I can wait, Naruto, it’ll be okay. You can cry, just let it out first. Everything else can wait a bit, okay? Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere…” Shimome continued to spill a consistent, low litany of platitudes as the actual four year old’s sobs continued to waver in frequency and volume until it seemed that he’d exhausted himself to sleep again.

It took a further few minutes to slowly lower Naruto into laying on the couch and untangle his arms from Shimome’s person, but after he had him situated, Shimome took a deep breath and finally turned to acknowledge the silent observer standing in the hallway entrance frame.

“I think we need to talk Tenka,” He said with all the overgrown seriousness of a seventeen year old hero of worlds _ (son, younger brother, best friend, older brother, savior, confident, _ ** _protector_ ** _ ) _in a four year old’s body.

*****

Tenka observed the picture they painted, the monster that she had woken to find sobbing like a babe living its worst nightmare while clutching her nephew as if he were the last good thing in the whole of the Elemental Countries. The nephew that now stared at her with eyes that held a knowledge and age that they should not, that promised pain and retribution and unimaginable things if she dared to impose harm on what was under his protection. In the back of her mind, tucked away and ignored to the best of her ability, was a fear. A fear born of recognition of her nephew's eyes, of the look worn by the old, dangerous shinobi she encountered in her sister’s husband’s shop, and now she could no longer ignore it. So she takes a deep breath, centers herself, recalls every last scrap of information her father had taught her about handling shinobi as a civilian worker in their village, and lets it out to meet the child’s old eyes.

“Yes, I suppose so, Shimome.”

*****

Naruto wakes to a soft surface, quiet voices, itchy eyes, a stuffy nose, a dry mouth, and a headache. It’s honestly a novel experience, he’s never been hurt for long in the past, and he has _never _allowed himself to cry more than a tear at a time before _ (don’t let them win)_.

Ugh, now he remembers all the crying he did and that was awful, he never wants to cry ever again. It was gross and sticky and he couldn’t talk even though Shimome was expecting answers, but Shimome just further proved that he was an angel. He was waited and let him cry and gave him the best hug in all of ever and never got mad and, and, and Shimome was the _best _and so _nice _and Naruto didn’t understand _why. _ Like, sure, Shimome was obviously an angel, but did Naruto really deserve an angel for a friend? _ (he wasn’t all human, wasn’t normal, was a <strike>freak,</strike> what if they were right, what if he was a <strike>monster</strike>?) _ Shimome was probably talking to his Oba now, learning all about why Naruto was bad news _ (why?) _and was gonna change his mind and-

**[OI, brat, pay attention. There are actual important conversations going on over there. You were the one who wanted to trust your precious “Shimome” so much, why don'tcha get outta your head and start listening, yeah?] **Kurama boomed his -unneeded- input.

[OW, dattebayo! Tou-saaaan, why you gotta be so loud? My head already hurts]

**[Don’t just start whining to ignore my advice!] **came the still loud but admittedly lessened rebuke.

[Fine, fine, just choose now of all times to listen to me, ‘tebayo] Naruto mentally grumbled as he turned his head and attention to finally listen to the nearby, and steadily escalating, voices of Shimome and his Oba Tenko or something.

“-’mon, Tenka, you can’t tell me that the reason a kid was thrown on the streets and probably neglected enough that he’s scared of adults on a whole is just, not important. Because it must be really, really important, even if it’s bullshit, if no other adults ever stepped in to help him.” Oh no, that was Shimome, and he was asking about the adults and what if he learned about the Kyuubi and hated him too?!

“Oh really, you want a reason? I’ve already said, I’m sorry I freaked out, I made a mistake, I _ can’t say more unless I want to be arrested and interrogated horribly. _ Like, yeah, it’s the most terribly kept secret in the village, but it’s still a secret and _law _that I, personally, will not be breaking anytime soon. And by the way, on the topic of _reasons_, which of us just admitted to being able to freaking walk through solid surfaces, including all baby gates known to man, and able to map your own chakra coils and guarantee you’re healthy and lied about it for _ years. Years, _Shimome. You let your mother and me spend your whole life worrying over losing you or something crippling you for years and you didn’t say a thing! Do you know what we’ve gone through, doctor's appointments, constant confusion, tears and breakdowns, arguments and pity from everyone and you just, what, didn’t care?! Do you even think about anyo-”

“Well, I’m _ sorry _ if I didn’t know how to tell you I was a FREAK!”

“NO!” Both Shimome and Tenka startled at the sudden yell as Naruto bolted upright, wincing as his head throbbed in protest and his throat ached. Pushing past the discomfort, he scrambled to where the others were standing in front of the kitchen area and moved in between them with his back to the scary lady as he grabbed Shimome’s face in his hands and looked at him straight in his shiny eyes. “You’re not a freak! Shimome is cool and smart and pretty and, and super nice even to me and freaks are monsters and monsters aren’t good like that! So Shimome is not a- you’re- you’re so not a _ that _ , you’re the opposite! You’re an _ angel _, dattebayo!”

[(Pic that I still don't know how to attach)](https://www.deviantart.com/jacqgem/art/You-re-an-angel-824516046)

The world help still, Shimome’s face frozen in shock and disbelief as Naruto stared determinedly into his eyes, trying to impress every bit of warmth, happiness, and surety that he had in him, until a wet sounding, choked laugh reminded Naruto that they were not alone. He turned quickly to see the mean lady - Shimome’s Oba. Naruto struggled for a moment, instincts to run and hide warring with new instincts to protect the precious person behind him. The latter won out in short order, so he firmed his stance with his hands on his hips and glared up at the lady- Takna? Whatever.

“What’s so funny, huh?! You laughing at us, dattebayo?!”

“No, no, just- You’re not- Oh, there’s nothing I can really say without being the bad guy here, is there?” The lady wasn’t making any sense. She was laughing but her chakra was a mess of _ cold-sticky-sour-spicy-heavy-drowned, _too much too pressed together for him to understand, but definitely not happy. He’d heard mean laughing and happy laughing, but he didn’t know what this was. (It felt like his smiles.)

“Etto..” He was stumped.

“Don’t take it personally, Tenka. Most adults are the enemy, they’re just too stuck up to realize it’s more literal and harmful than playful,” Shimome’s voice speaks up from behind him as he sets an oddly burning-freezing hand against his arm to step up next to him. Naruto frowns, ‘cause he was supposed to be protecting Shimome here, and also ‘cause he didn’t really understand what Shimome was saying. How could an enemy be playful? But then Shimome smiled at him, even when he went right back to staring coldly at the lady- Tenka- and took his hand and he felt Shimome’s _ slippery-warm-cool-soft-earthheartstrong _chakra stuff surround him as he took his had and it was fine. Naruto decided he liked this better, stretching his chakra to create a barrier around Shimome just the same way. They could stand together and protect each other and not worry about being left alone ever.

“Adults are- I- I can’t even right now, kids. Kami, you’re _ children. _Just- Just finish your breakfasts.” Tenka lady collapsed in one of the chairs at the table, face still pale in her hands as she rested her elbows on the table.

“Riiiight,” Shimome pulled out the word as he went to his own seat next to Tenka and moved Naruto’s probably cold bowl to the place on his other side rather than across from him. It was very awkward, and Naruto shoveled down the rest of his food, painfully aware of the tense atmosphere. He kept his eyes down on his bowl even when he could feel Tenka’s stare boring into him. He still didn’t look up when the food was gone, instead fiddling with his chopsticks and tapping them on the bottom of the bowl. They were pretty nice, made of metal and had tiny little carvings in them that looked like fire at the ends. It was totally cool, and he wondered how hard it was to make such tiny-

“Uuuggghhhh,” Tenka’s explosive sigh as she dropped her head and arms to the table in a face plant startled both the minors into actually staring at her instead of pretending to pay attention to anything other than her. They exchanged a few questioning glances, but Shimome just shrugged to show that not even he knew what was happening. A further tense half minutes passed before Tenka took a deep breath and raised herself up and leaned forward on the table to be able to see past Shimome and hold both of them in her gaze simultaneously.

“You said he was kicked out of the orphanage, yeah? If that’s the case, I really don’t know what to do here. There’s only one orphanage in Konoha as far as I know, and I’m not sure what other systems are in place, especially- Well, I’m not sure what we can do to help, but he can- stay, for now. I’ll look into the- I’ll ask around, but if we’ve got nothing in two days we’re taking you to the mission desk and straight-up asking, yeah?” Most of her speech was directed at Shimome, but eventually, she started to actually look at Naruto, too. She didn’t look kind, she didn’t acknowledge him as anything other than a temporary issue, her chakra was still _ cold-spicy-cavernouslylost, _ but over those, it was the _ earthstrong _ of resolve and honesty, and she was promising to let him _ stay, _even if just for a little while, and Naruto was further convinced of Shimome’s divinity by this obvious miracle.

Naruto also couldn’t seem to stop the tears and hiccups from starting again, which sucked because Shimome probably already thought he was a big cry baby and he wasn’t supposed to show weakness and-

**[Just cry, kit]**

He bawled.

(Tenka looked really uncomfortable, but she made him a glass of warm milk and brought him tissues while Shimome hugged him again and he just cried even more while trying to thank her as she made her excuses about having to go to work. Naruto was about 50% sure that he had actually died somewhere in that alley and this was heaven.)

*****

It had been a pretty awesome day. By the time he had finally finished crying and washing up, they were both ready for lunch. This time he helped Shimome wash the vegetables and mix the sauce for the stir fry he made for them, talking and laughing and basking in Shimome’s _ steady-liquid-warmcold-strength _ all the while. After lunch, Shimome redid his hair and let him try doing his. It was a bit of a mess, but Shimome said it was better than his first try (which Naruto didn’t believe, no way Shimome could ever mess up so much) but he was still pretty proud. After finally changing too (Naruto didn’t see why he had to give up the orange, but Shimome insisted he at least change his pants and wear a T-shirt under the “hoodie”), Shimome coaxed him down to the shop (a clothes shop- no wonder Shimome had so many colored clothes!). They sat behind the tall counter, out of sight from any customers unless they leaned all the way over it, and Shimome showed him his books. He got kinda mad when Naruto said the Matron wouldn’t let him in on the lessons in the orphanage, but then he picked a real cool story and started to read it to him, pointing at the words as he went. It was so cool, it had dragons and princes and princesses and knights and magic and he was pretty sure princesses were usually the ones being rescued, but in this story, they had disguised themselves as knights and teamed up with the dragons to save the princes from the creepy evil king. Shimome had to stop every once in a while when the bell above the front door rang, signaling a customer, but it seemed like people knew what they wanted and never stayed for long. They were at the part where the prince was just about to learn what a creep the king was when the bell above the door rang again and a young voice called out.

“Shimome! You here? I brought cake!” Light footsteps and a _ bright-soft-clean _presence came closer to the counter. Naruto tensed, worried about causing another outburst or argument like the one from the morning, but Shimome just smiled at him and patted his upper arm.

“I’m over here, Akane! What flavor is it?” Shimome called as he put a bookmark in the story and began to stand. The footsteps sped up and soon a boy a few years older than them was turning the corner and joining them in the space behind the counter. He had pale cream skin, short, black, wavy-curly hair, and grey eyes set in a smiling face. He was holding a small, pink cardboard box in his left hand, and a plain brown backpack was hanging off his right shoulder by one strap. He froze stiff when he saw Naruto.

“...Shimome, who’s this?” He said after a while. Naruto wanted to shrink away, he really didn’t want to cause any more arguments, but Shimome’s hand shot out to catch his. The boy, Akane?, saw and his eyes got even bigger.

“This is my new friend, Naruto. I met him yesterday,” Shimome sounded happy, but Naruto could tell that he was studying Akane closely.

**[What is that baka doing?!] **Rama Tou-san growled out. Naruto winced a little but didn’t reply as Akane’s jaw dropped in time with his backpack hitting the floor. 

“You, you-” he stuttered as he stiffly put the pink box on one of the shelves in the counter. “Shimome, you-”

Suddenly, his face was stretched by a smile even bigger than the one before and he spread his now empty arms to the sky as he cheered, “Shimome, you made a _ friend! _ Oh, I’m so proud of you! We need to celebrate, I’ve got mango cake! You can tell me all about how you made friends and- Oh! Hi, I’m Akane, I’m Shimome’s Nii-san, and you’re Naruto and Shimome’s first friend ever! That means you gotta be a _ best _ friend, okay? You can call me Aka-nii, too! It’s what Shimome calls me most’a the time.”

Naruto’s head was whirling, but his cheeks were spreading in that same warm kind of smile, the one where he felt it all over his cheeks but didn’t want (need) to close his eyes to keep. Akane was still talking excitedly as let Naruto free of his impromptu hug and motioned for them to sit as he picked up the pink box and brought opened it to show small, bit sized pieces of _ orange cake! _ He laughed when Shimome nudged his side and smiled at him, too. Shimome’s family was awesome!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes on everyone's states of minds: this is basically the breakdown chapter. Naruto has never has someone be there just to listen to him, for him, he is overwhelmed and officially attached to Shimome. Shimome is still in the process of grieving and is realizing the full extent of his denial and distancing from the ppl in this world and also stress from suppressing/not having an obsession has been getting to him. Tenka has a lot of emotions about Shimome that she represses bc she doesn't know what can be done, but she is a very observant person who grew up in a ninja village with the motto that basically anything is possible and the whole "never discount the improbable" attitude in solving things. I mean, realistically thinking about it, Shimome would have been a really creepy baby. (So would this Naruto, actually. Kurama was born with him, so in his baby mind he was never actually alone and he only ever really cried when hungry cuz he was never cold or even really sad and he kinda looked like he was laughing or smiling at nothing a lot of the time? he honestly creeped out a lot of the workers, even minus the whole Kyuubi thing)  
Other note, who remembers that time we found out Naruto basically was so deep in denial about the village's treatment of him that he had a literal dark side/ split personality deep in his head? That's kinda what he's thinking about Kurama, though he's not aware he does it. basically:  
the Kyuubi= mind controlled Kurama, and Kurama at his most vengeful/ hateful where he is just a mindless beast that wants to destroy  
Kurama= Under layer of Kyuubi, who is tired and grumpy and sad and hopeless and so lashes out  
('Rama) Tou-san= side of him that really cares and wishes and wants to be nice (but is scared to)  
Akane is just chilling, basically


	6. Birthdays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's so short, it just doesn't really fit in the other chapters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a cross between an omake and just an "offscreen" scene that I wanted to make because it does happen and this is genuinely how they find out that they share a birthday, but it's so short! hope it's fun regardless, and that the attached comic came out okay.

Akane stared down at the two smaller children in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest. They looked a little nervous, and he was sorry for that, but this was a serious matter. The question he was about to ask would determine the very future of their relationship and how much responsibility he had to teach them. It was absolutely vital that they understood the magnitude and severity of this situation.

“Since you are both 4 years old, this next question is important,” Akane stated. “Naruto, when is your birthday?”

Both Naruto and Shimome startled and looked even further confused. Naruto glanced at Shimome in questioning concern, but Shimome just shrugged so Naruto tried to answer.

“Er, ano, it’s on- I think- the… day of the Fox Festival?” Naruto’s voice came out hesitantly but still clearly. Akane could barely process his answer, though.

“WHAT!? That’s the same day as me! October 10th! We have the same birthday, Naruto, can you believe it!” Shimome exclaimed.

“WOW! We have the same birthday, like- like twins or something, ‘tebayo!” Naruto quickly joined Shimome in his joy, jumping around and around Shimome, pumping his arms in the air and chanting.

Akane couldn’t believe it. _ Same age… same birthday… like _**_twins…_ **

“Ehhh? Shimome, whaz he doin?” Naruto’s voice was slightly muffled and slurred due to being pressed in between Akane’s arm and chest while also being squished against Shimome, who just shrugged from his position of being squished in Akane’s other arm.

Akane knew he’d surprised them when he had grabbed them for a spontaneous hug, but he couldn’t help it. His face was stretched around the widest, silliest grin he’d ever made in his life, he was sure. _ They were the same age, with the same birthday! Neither of them was older, so instead of having to teach one of them how to be a responsible older friend-brother, he got to be double the best big brother for both of them!_

[Comic That I Drew Before Writing This](https://www.deviantart.com/jacqgem/art/Birthdays-827859897?ga_submit_new=10%3A1579725376)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akane takes his Big Brother Duties^tm very seriously. He is also not the most well-socialized of six-year-olds because much of his younger years revolved around taking care of and/or worrying about Shimome, who was not let out, and so he didn't get out much either.


	7. Enter the Arashi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They slammed a piece of paper on the counter they could barely look over, a fierce look in their eyes. “I need something that technically follows all these guidelines while also being as blatantly not-Uchiha as possible.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arashi 嵐 = Storm, Hōka 烽火 = Bonfire/ Beacon (though, apparently those characters mean "war" in Chinese)
> 
> I literally finished the last 1000 or so words today, and I'm tired of staring at this over and over again, and I wanna post it, so pls tell me if you catch a mistake!

It’d been three days. The absolutely best three days of his _ life. _ Naruto didn’t know what Shimome had done to make Tenka let him stay longer, but he was _ never _ going to question it. Naruto got to sleep on his own futon, with as many blankets as he wanted. He got to help make breakfast each morning and _ eat it all. _ Once, Tenka even helped and had breakfast with them, too, and it was a little more tense but he thinks that she’s not too bad. Then, Naruto and Shimome would go to the shop. Shimome would read him books, or show him around the shop, or even let him see _ Shimome’s _ work space, ‘cuz Shimome was so awesome and smart that he _ made his own clothes. _ In the afternoons, Akane would come to the shop, usually with snacks, and then he’d tell them about his days at the _ Academy _ and he was always so nice and awesome and- just- Naruto didn’t even care that they didn’t really leave the shop. He didn’t _ want _ to leave. If he left, it may all end or he’d wake up or- or-

(He didn’t want it to end. He wouldn’t be able to handle it. He wouldn’t-)

Three days. Three nights of good sleep, two whole days of three meals and friends and braiding hair and getting to know each other. They were reading again, a new story about a girl who loved to read and her nice cat-bear-person of a husband. Naruto thought the girl was very smart, because everyone kept trying to be silly and make problems and she always knew how to make it not a problem. He was deciding that he wanted to be able to do that, to make the problems go away and make people see that they’re just being silly, when the now familiar sound of the shop’s door bell rung out.

“I KNOW YOU’RE THERE, GHOSTY! GET YOU’RE STUPID BUTT OUT HERE!” A voice screamed through the shop, making Naruto jump and his heart race. Who was mad, how did they know they were here, he had to get Shimome away-

“What, no treats to trick me into coming out this time, Arashi?” Shimome was standing on the stool that let him see over the counter, leaning his elbows on the counter-top with his chin propped in his palms. Seeing that Shimome was being brave in the face of a possible-enemy, Naruto quickly stood and pulled himself up to his tiptoes to see over the counter. The yeller was apparently a kid that looked old enough to be an Academy student with long, straight black hair, pale skin, dark-grey-almost-black eyes. (Naruto thought they looked like a girl, but Tenka made him and Shimome take different bath times and stuff because Shimome was a boy but _ looked _ like a girl, which Naruto didn’t get but apparently he couldn’t trust how people looked or what they wore. Which also made him wonder how you knew what anyone was and why did looking a little different matter and- **[Rambling, kit.]**) They were dressed in a navy blue, long sleeved shirt with a funny, high collar that reminded Naruto of the police people, a long dark grey skirt, and looked completely stunned. A little baby was wobbling next to them, and they looked and dressed similarly enough that he was sure they were siblings, both with black hair and pale skin, though the baby had black eyes and the elder’s hair was in a braid while the baby had short hair that spiked a lot, and the baby’s shirt was short sleeved and they had pants rather than a skirt. Probably the baby didn’t know how to walk in one yet, seeing as they were wobbling every few steps.

“That was literally years ago, shut up.” They slammed a piece of paper on the counter they could barely look over, a fierce look in their eyes. “I need something that technically follows all these guidelines while also being as blatantly not-Uchiha as possible.”

[Enter the Arashi Art](https://www.deviantart.com/jacqgem/art/Enter-the-Arashi-833439321?ga_submit_new=10%3A1583972052)

“Now that is my kind of project, but- They’re not that bad, are they?” Shimome asks as he takes the paper. He’s frowning a little, but still doesn’t look scared or mad or anything bad, so Naruto figures the new person- Arashi- is okay. Shimome glances at Naruto and smiles, “This is Naruto, by the way. Naruto, this is Arashi. Her mom- well, she used to come over a lot when she was little. Apparently, Arashi thought I was some kind of special clothes ghost because I used to hide in the racks a lot.”

“I was _ five _ , let it go. And you still spend way too much time hiding away from everyone, you’ve _ earned _ your name, Ghosty.”Arashi complained, though Naruto could feel a hint of _ coldcold-sad _in her chakra. She looked at Naruto before gesturing to the baby next to her. “Nice to meet you, I guess. This is my little cousin, Hoka. I’m watching him.”

“Well, that’s cool, right? You get lots of cousins and stuff now, right?” Shimome sounded a little hesitant, and gestured for Arashi to come around the counter while he stepped down off the stool. He gave Naruto another smile, and his chakra was still full of _ safesafe-happy-care, _ but there was a new hesitation underlying it and Naruto didn’t know whether he wanted Arashi to go away because he was making Shimome upset or if he should just be very, very quiet and wait it out or if _ he _should go away because he didn’t know what was happening. Shimome just squeezed Naruto’s hand once before gesturing for Arashi to sit as well, saying, “I’m gonna go get my sketch book, then we can come up with some ideas together, ‘kay?”

He was already running to Tenka’s work room, his weird fancy shorts bouncing with him as he moved. Naruto was frozen, because now he was stuck with Arashi and the baby Hoka, and he didn’t know them and they made Shimome sad, even if just a little, and what was he supposed to- 

“My mom used to work here. I came over a lot. I didn’t ever really talk with Shimome, I didn’t think he actually talked to _ anyone, _ but I knew him a little. So- I dunno, I thought he was weird enough to help, maybe? I dunno.” Arashi sounded a lot less sure than she was a while ago, and Naruto knew she felt a lot more scared, too. He didn’t want her to be, he never wanted to make _ anyone _scared of him.

“Well, Shimome’s really nice! He’ll definitely help, he’s cool and he helps _ me _ there’s no way he won’t help you, too.” He tried to reassure, but Arashi still seemed kinda sad, so he added, “I’ll help all I can too, ‘ttebayo, but I’m not really as smart as him or anything, so-”

**[Why, exactly, are you proposing to help an ** ** _Uchiha?_ ** **] ** Tou-san sounded really grumpy, and Naruto kinda jumped because he knew that ‘Rama really didn’t like Uchiha but he hadn’t _ known _and-

“What are Uchiha, anyway?” He blurted out loud.

Arashi looked really shocked, and Naruto didn’t know what to do, he’d never realized that having people to talk to would make keeping Tou-san a secret so hard. He really hoped that she wouldn’t be ma-

“OH MY GOD!” Arashi collapsed, and her shoulders were shaking, but only because she was laughing so hard. Her chakra was full of shock and surprise, but also with lots of _ bright-happy-sunwarmsatisfaction _that fueled her good kind of laughter, so Naruto felt fine laughing along, and the baby decided to join too, so when Shimome came back with a book and a bag that clinked he found a bunch of laughing kids collapsed in a pile.

“Oh, come on! I wasn’t even gone long, you can’t be having inside jokes already! What’d I miss?” Shimome complained, but his chakra was _ bright-soft-happy _ so Naruto knew he wasn’t actually sad or mad.

“He doesn’t- How can he not- Where’d you-” Arashi kept trying to start, but she would collapse into giggles too soon to finish.

“Riiiighhht. Naruto?” Shimome’s voice and chakra were both _ happyfullofmirth, _and his eyes were laughing as he looked at Naruto.

“I- I dunno! I just- just asked whaz an Uchiha!” Naruto barely got out among his own laughs.

“HA!” Shimome joined, his smile blooming wider. “That’s- yeah, I can see why Arashi is-”

“I’m Uchiha!” A little voice laughed. They turned to see the little toddler, Hoka, had stopped laughing and was sitting with his arms up as if in victory with his announcement. Seeing that he had everyone’s attention, Hoka quickly put his hands down and tried to look very Serious and Important™. “I’m Uchiha, an’ ‘Rashi’s Uchiha, ‘cuz- ‘cuz Uchiha is Clan, an’ Clan is Family, an’ Family is Best!” He apparently couldn’t keep the face long, as he yet again put up his arms and nearly fell back with his last shout.

“Nu-UH! _ Shimome’s _ the Best, so _ Shimome’s _family is the Best!” Naruto was quick to shoot back.

“No! Uchiha!” Hoka screams back after a scandalized gasp.

“No! Shimome!” Naruto leans in closer to Hoka’s face.

“Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Uchiha!” Hoka’s little face is getting steadily redder as he screams back.

“OKAAY! Every family is awesome, now lets not pick fights with literal one-year-olds, yeah?” Arashi quickly interjects over Shimome’s guffaws. “The Uchiha are a Clan Family, who I now live with.”

“‘Rashi-Nee’s Uchiha,” Hoka nods cheerfully.

“I’m _ not- _just, you gonna stop laughing and help me or what, Ghosty?” Arashi sighed.

“I’m good, I’m good. We can do this. I was thinking...” Shimome sat up and opened the bag to take out some pencils and held them over a fresh page of his sketchbook. Naruto was a little stunned, because he was sure no one’s chakra should be bouncing from happy to sad to mad as quick as Arashi’s did, but Shimome and Hoka were smiling and he thought that Arashi maybe just needed some help, so he sat down and tried to understand what they were saying.

Helping turned out to mean making lots of suggestions about bright colors and flashy cloths and watching Shimome draw careful, clear, and pretty lines for drawings to show to them all. Then Hoka wanted to draw too, so they got more paper and some crayons. Then they all got hungry and Naruto helped Shimome make snacks, then they were talking about the book they’d been reading and then Arashi suggested another series by the same author and then they were all laughing and Hoka had fallen asleep and at some point Akane had joined them with his box of treats- ice cream filled green tea mochi today- and before he knew it Naruto, Shimome, and Akane were saying goodbye to Arashi and Hoka because it was getting late but they would be back in three days to pick up the first outfit.

“Well, did you all have fun with your friends today?” Tenka-Oba asked them at dinner. Naruto froze, because he didn’t understand the question, he only had one-

“Yeah! Arashi is pretty cool, and Hoka is almost as cute as Shimome was, and Shimome got to show us all how to design clothes- my otouto is so smart!- and Naruto had a pretty good idea for the coloring and everyone really liked my snacks, they said thank you and everything! It was super fun, I hope they come back soon.” Akane barreled on.

“They were cool. And it was pretty fun, making designs for someone else.” Shimome’s answer was much quieter, but his chakra was just as full of _ warm-peace-jumpingjoy. _“What about you, Naruto?”

“They were friends?!” Naruto bursts. He hadn’t known that making friends was so… simple. Sure, Shimome made quick friends with him, but that was only ‘cuz they were similar, and Akane was only friendly because he was Shimome’s Aka-Nii. There was a moment of silence as Akane looked at him in scandalized shock, while both Tenka and Shimome just looked sad. Naruto wanted to shrink, because he didn’t mean to keep _ doing this. _ He didn’t want to make them sad or say wrong things (or make them mad), but he just didn’t know. He didn’t get what he could say or do to make them feel better, especially not when he didn’t know what made them sad, but he knew he would try super hard to learn. He wanted to be able to make them smile all the time and be sad never!

“Of _ course _ they were our friends, Naruto-chan! They were really nice and fun and are gonna come back so we can play and get to know each other and become even better friends, you’ll see.” Akane smiled gently, and his voice was cheery but firm, his chakra full of _ warm-earthstrong-protect. _

“Oh.” Naruto started to smile too. Everyone was smiling now, and Shimome gave Aka-Nii a pat on the arm that made him beam. Naruto was full of _ warm-happy-protect-sunshineandgentlybreeze _and he reached to wrap his chakra around them all, even though Shimome was the only one who could feel it and do the same.

**[You’re all a bunch of saps.] ** Kurama-tou-sam grumbled, but he was full of warmth too, so Naruto knew not to listen to him all that much. So Naruto smiled a good smile and talked all about the things they did that day, with Akane and Shimome joining in and Tenka smiling nicely and thought, _ I never want this to end. _

*****

“This. Is. PERFECT!” Arashi cheered as she twirled in her new skirt. Naruto was clapping and cheering along with her, and Shimome was just smiling widely, proud that she liked it so much when he’d been a little nervous about what Arashi would think. “And you made Hoka a little matching one too, this is amazing!”

“Yeah, yeah, that was my idea, ‘cuz now you can both match, dattebayo!” Naruto interjected as he bounced around them all. They were in Tenka-Oba’s living room, and Arashi was trying the outfits that he’d just spent a good amount of the last three days making. It consisted of a white shirt that had tight sleeves for three quarters before opening into flowing cuffs with a gold trimming and red on the inside. They’d taken the traditional blue high collared shirt and turned it into a sleeveless zip up vest with pockets and a hood of matching color on the outside but bright red on the inside. Her new skirt looked like a standard long grey skirt when she held still, but it was full of triangular pannels that faded from gold to red, like flames, and let the skirt flare spectacularly when she spun. For Hoka, they’d made a matching vest, a gold trimmed white t-shirt, and red trimmed white shorts. Of course, both vests had the Uchiha fan on the backs, but with the hoods down only the bottom half, the white handle and a little red, was visible.

[ Arashi's Clothes Art ](https://www.deviantart.com/jacqgem/art/Arashi-s-Clothes-831985085?ga_submit_new=10%3A1583121619)

Hoka looked adorable in his outfit, clapping and cheering along with Naruto as Arashi spun yet again, all three entranced by the flame-like patterns that spun around her.

Naruto had helped in making them, of course, but mostly he could only help with assembling everything. Shimome had made sure to explain everything he was doing and why and to take breaks where they did exactly what Naruto wanted to make sure he didn’t feel left out or like he was suddenly not important now that Shimome had another new thing to do. The past week had been an exercise in patience, really. And it was very tiring.

Not Naruto, no! Well, not entirely. Shimome was all too glad to be there for Naruto and make sure he was getting as much attention as possible, trying to make sure he knew he was cared for and welcome and that he wasn’t going to suddenly not like him at the drop of a hat. Frankly, it was so sad that Tenka was able to pick up on it all- on Naruto’s caution, his eagerness to please and his lack of knowledge in so many social areas that even four year olds should have- that she never really could bring herself to possibly upend him by bringing him to the mission desk. But both Tenka and Shimome knew that something was going to give soon. He was pretty sure even Naruto knew it, but he was ignoring it with the aplomb of a champion denier. Tenka couldn’t really support suddenly having two more mouths to feed 24-7, certainly not when Naruto ate enough for three all by himself, and Shimome had to go home at some point. Arashi’s outfit had actually been the perfect excuse, but Rokka had been sending messages with Akane and calling more often. Not to mention, Shimome could already see Naruto slowly getting more and more antsy, more fidgety, practically vibrating with suppressed energy. None of them were meant for staying indoors for so long, and Shimome didn’t want them to, but they all knew that something would change the moment they left the shop.

Shimome was struggling with it because, for the first time since waking in this world, there was something genuinely important to him, something he couldn’t mess up but also could so easily lose. And yeah, he got that not thinking of his- his family as important was, like, kinda bad. But he hadn’t realised until this past week exactly _ how bad _ it had all been. The more time he spent with Naruto, knowing and accepting that he wanted to and could Protect him, the more he _ let _ himself tune into Naruto’s needs and personal ticks and likes and dislikes in order to better Protect _ (Obsess over) _ him, the more Shimome realised how- disconnected he had been before.

Now that he’d finally stopped strangling his Obsession, it was like he could finally _ see. _ See how hard it’d been trying to latch onto Akane and Tenka and Rokka, how by stopping it he’d turned them into- pictures, caricatures, maybe, but not really seeing them as _ people, _ as _ important. _ And it terrified him. When Arashi had come by, he’d realized that he’d known her for years, had seen her practically everyday for ages, and he’d never talked to her. Her mom had died just a few months before and he’d never spared her a thought until she was right in front of him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was amazing that he’d even remembered her name, seeing as he couldn’t remember any of the customers that had come into the shop, even given that he _ knew _ there were regulars that came by once a week or so. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how very _ not okay _ he’d been before, and it terrified him.

It was like he’d been living in a mutated day dream, and he’d finally woken up. Honestly, it made sense, given that he knew Obsessions were the very core and life of Ghosts, but he’d never realized how bad it was- how much he’d been _ damaging (punishing) _ himself by trying to ignore it. No wonder Tenka and Rokka and everyone thought he’d been so unwell, he _ was. _ He’d been selectively amnesiac, practically a living comatose patient- capable of retaining information and learning but not of _ living. _ He didn’t want to go back to that, not now, not soon, not ever, and he was sure that he’d never forget Naruto, _ (He was sure that his Obsession wouldn’t let him, that it'd genuinely be fine, but- he’d been drowning himself, practically commiting Ghostly suicide, and he didn’t want to live like that ever again.) _ but he was so terrified to chance it _ (to risk Naruto getting lost, being hurt, finding someone better who wasn’t a damaged, Obsessive, failed Halfa) _that he knew he would never be the one to suggest they leave first, he wouldn’t be the one to break this fragile soap bubble of peace they’d found. So he was stuck with this constantly mounting tension that-

“THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!” Shimome was tackled by a slightly larger body as Arashi hugged him in accompaniment to her shrieks of joy. Note to self: he was apparently prone to zoning _hard_ now. “This is perfect! And, and I promise to pay you back. Employee discount or not, this was a rushed custom job, and I _know_ that that costs a lot. I _will_ be paying you back as soon as I can, Shimome. Promise.”

“What? No, it was no problem, really, you deserve it and-”

“No!” She put her hand up in front of his face, having disentangled themselves while she’d been promising, and then placed both fists on her hips to stare him down. She held her stare for a moment before suddenly placing her hands to her sides and bowing. Shimome sputtered, trying to get her to stand, but she mowed on, “I have done you a disservice by demanding your help for no recompensense, and you have not only acquiesced but performed beyond all expectation. Thank you, and please allow me to repay you at the earliest possible time.”

Shimome was honestly speechless and also feeling _so_ guilty because he’d really only helped because he needed an excuse to not go home. But it wasn’t like he could say that and while he still thought some Japanese (or wherever it was he was was so like it that it was comparable) manners were kinda over the top, he knew he couldn’t just blow her off. That’d be unbearably rude. Didn’t mean he didn’t feel awkward.

“Uh, thank you for… the… acknowledgement? And I don’t doubt your… sincerity to repay me, but I’ll have to deny the attempts as I made the outfits for you as a… gift! Yes, a gift for you for- um, to make up for the two missed birthdays of our acquaintance!” HA! That made sense, right?

“Well, in that case, I owe you a gift of equal value for the same reason, for manners, you see.” Arashi did not seem amused, back to staring him down with her arms crossed and feet planted in a stubborn stance.

“No- just- WHY? You’re _ seven, _ don’t seven year olds like getting gifts?! Just take the clothes, they’re _ clothes, _making them is what I do, why can’t you just-”

“They took effort and care and are very well done, I was raised with manners, I know better, that’s not how you _ do things- _”

“Am I not allowed to give gifts to my friends without needing to expect something in return?!”

“YEAH!” Both Shimome and Arashi whipped their heads to Naruto, who’d tried to jump in. “It’s a gift for friends Arashi-chan! Friends don’ gotta owe each other nothin’!”

Arashi looked less stumped and more just bemused, but he had stopped the brewing argument. Shimome smiled to convey his thanks for the help, and when he looked back at Arashi, she seemed to have made a decision.

“You’re both just _ four, _ I suppose you just don’t know all your manners yet. That's okay, as your friend I can help teach you _ and _ get you gifts, too! No take backs!” She declared triumphantly.

“YAHOO! WE GOT MORE FRIENDS, DATTEBAYO!” Naruto cheered as he came and tackled both Shimome and Arashi in a hug that sent them all crashing to the carpet.

“Yay, Friends!” Hoka added as he flung himself onto the pile to join, making all of them laugh gleefully as they tried to roll out to lay next to each other instead of on top.

“ARE YOU ALL OKAY UP THERE?” Tenka’s voice sounded as her footsteps came up the stairs.

“””YES TENKA-OBA/-SAN!””” 

“Oh dear, what have you all been doing?” Tenka laughingly questioned from her place at the top of the stairwell.

“Jus’ makin’ friends, Tenka-Oba!” Naruto cheered as he craned his head backwards to look at her and Hoka cheered from his position sitting on Naruto’s legs.

“Yeah, Shimome is a much better friend now that he’s not a baby.” Arashi commented with a knowing air.

“Yes. Yes, he is, isn’t he?” Tenka’s voice was lower, full of a quiet wonder. Shimome winced, because he knew she’d noticed the change in his behavior this past week- maybe more than he had, even. After all, she had been completely aware of how bad he’d been before, and he was sure that her observations of his changes was at least half the reason she’d let him stay so long without going home.

“I just had to realize the right people to be friends with were already there.” Shimome smiled at the people that surrounded him. Those he Protected- Naruto, a little bit Tenka, and Akane who would be by later- and those that were Important because they made his Protected happy. He didn’t want to fall into the disconnect he’d had before finding his Protected _ (his Naruto). _

“Aww! Thanks Shimo-chan!” Arashi leaned over to hug him (she was a weird girl. She really needed to find an attitude and stick to it.) before getting up to her feet, carefully dusting off her clothes as she went to get Hoka off Naruto. “We gotta go now though. I think we can come back sometime next week?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see you guys soon, dattebayo!” Naruto bounced after them as they began to make their way downstairs, picking up the bag that had their original clothes. Shimome hurried to follow without being left behind, carefully not answering when he wasn’t sure what or where exactly he’d be in a week, instead contenting himself with listening their chattering and plans.

When they reached the store portion of the boutique, Tenka returned to her workroom as Naruto and Shimome walked Arashi and Hoka to the door to exchange their last goodbyes of the day. Waving off the cousins’ forms as they disappeared down the street, Shimome and hustled Naruto back inside with a promise to finish the second book in the series they were reading when it seemed he’d do something crazy like run off after them _ (like he should be able to, but that Shimome was too selfish to let him do). _

Just as they were getting settled in their customary spots behind the counter, the door bell rang, signaling someone had entered the boutique. Given the lack of greeting, it was a customer rather than Aka-Nii’s usual visit. However, he could tell that their footsteps were coming straight to the counter instead of wandering around to brouse, which meant that Shimome had to hand the book to Naruto as he stood to greet them and try to remember if he’d ever met this one before.

“Hello and welcome to the Neat Cut Corner Boutique, is there anything I can help you wi-” Shimome stared. This was possibly very bad, or maybe just very good for Tenka? But no, neither his nor, as far as he could tell, Naruto’s luck were that good, so this was probably just bad because that was-

“Yes, I do believe that you can help me with something. It seems someone has lost one of the village’s charges, and I can’t have that. I’m supposed to be protecting them all, you see.”

That just made Shimome angry. Because yeah, he knew exactly who this was and exactly what his job was and he dared to call himself a Protector when he’d failed the one person who matt-

“Shimome, whas goin’ on?” Naruto’s voice was a small whisper as he tugged on his pants from where he sat behind the counter.

The old man’s eyebrow rose enough to get lost in the wide brim of his weird hat, as if daring Shimome to make a move. He was frozen though, because now that Naruto had disrupted his anger, all Shimome could feel was fear. This was it, this was the shoe drop he’d been waiting for, the end of the world. He may have still been a Halfa, but he was only four now, and he’d never be able to beat-

“Well hello there! I almost didn’t see you Naruto, I’ve been looking for you. I was very worried when I heard of how the Matron has mistreated you.” The Sandaime Hokage’s voice was full of gentle warm and honesty, and even his chakra (he’d learned that that was what the life force of this world was called when talking with Naruto about their differences at night) was light and calm, but he couldn’t truly hide how very not surprised he was, how serious and focussed and deliberate he was being. None of it felt particularly bad, but Shimome could tell that Naruto felt it too because instead of being put at ease, Naruto squeaked and they both tensed as he jumped up to face the man who’d been leaning over the counter in an effort to be on more equal ground.

“Wha- Well, why ya’ lookin’ for me, ya’ Old Man?! I don’t even know you an’- an’ whatever it was, I didn’t do it! I’ve been here all week, just ask Tenka-Oba!” Naruto sputtered as he tried to understand what was going on. Shimome winced a bit at the volume, but Naruto’s fear gave him the kick he needed to get back on track. He quickly tried to comfort Naruto by impressing _ calmcalmI’mhere _ through the cloak of ectoplasm and chakra that they’d been practicing wrapping each other in. It worked a little, because Naruto firmed his stance and sent back _ herehereprotecttogether _ while crossing his arms at the _ Hokage. _Which was great, but what were they supposed to do, this was all gonna go horr-

“Shimome, Naruto, it’s close to lunch time, is there anything you w- Sandaime-sama! What- oh dear, I apologize I wasn’t here to greet you, wha- Oh.” Tenka’s sentences changed tone quite a few times, finally falling silent as she truly took in the scene in front of her. Shimome was sure they looked more ridiculous than anything- two toddlers looking angry and defensive in the face of a kindly smiling, very important, highly (the _ most highly _) ranked, and undoubtedly powerful ninja- but Tenka looked nothing less than resigned and perhaps scared. She seemed to get over it quickly enough though, as she just sighed as began again. “Good evening, Honorable Hokage-sama, and welcome to my shop. If you would be so kind as to allow me to close up, we may move our conversations to a much more comfortable setting.”

Seeing an opening to stay on home ground, Shimome quickly jumped down from his stool and grabbed Naruto’s hand as he hurried in the direction of the stairs. “I’ll go start the tea, Naruto, you can help get snacks! Let’s go!”

“Shi-! Ah, I apologize for their rudeness, Hokage-sama. I assure you, I meant to attempt to host you somewhere more- well, please, feel free to follow them to the living room, I’ll be up shortly.”

“No, no. They are just children, I envy their energy. I see no problem awaiting you, good …” Shimome heard their voices taper off as they closed the door on the landing and turned to Naruto, whose concentrated expression made it clear he was still focusing on being able to hear the adults. Stepping forward to catch his attention, Shimome quickly sped to the kitchen.

“We probably have some cakes from yesterday left, can you get those out please, Naruto? We gotta set up quick.”

“But- Shimome, what’re we gonna do? Tou- That’s the _ Hokage, _you’re gonna get in trouble and so are Tenka-Oba and Aka-Nii and maybe even Arashi-chan and Hoka-chan and it’ll all be my-”

“No!” Shimome quickly turned back to Naruto, placing his hands on his shoulders and staring him in the eye to make sure Naruto was really listening. He made sure to fill their cloak with as much _ surewarmIwillProtect _ as he dared to share while carefully announcing, “Nothing is your fault and no one will be in trouble. Somethings are gonna change, but we already knew that would happen. No- No, Naruto, we both knew that things can’t all just stay the same in here, if not ‘cause of all the weird adults, then because you deserve to do more than spend all day in a boutique. You _do_. So something is gonna change, but no one will be in trouble and no one will be mad and we _ will _ figure it out because I will not leave you, Naruto. I will never leave you to be alone again, I promise.”

“We- We promised each other. I’m not leaving you either, dattebayo. We promised.” Naruto choked out. His eyes were a little shiny, and his smile trembled, but it was real, and that was good enough. Shimome wished he had more time to comfort him (he should have been planning for something like this all week, Naruto was only four, he had to Protect him _ (why was the Hokage himself looking for Naruto?! Seriously, what was up?! They’d spent a lot of time exploring what they could do with each other, but Shimome was pretty good at sharing without saying anything, and Naruto seemed to have quite a few secrets as well, but what could possibly make the Hokage take notice of a four year old?) _) but that was really all the time he could buy them with their whole “set up refreshments” excuse. So instead he went forwards to wrap Naruto in a firm hug before trying to make him smile,”Yeah, we pinky promised! No take backs, Naruto, you’re stuck with me now and forever!” 

The resulting giggle was still a little wet, and Naruto held on just a little too tight, but when they separated he was smiling widely and there was a fire in his eyes that said he was ready for anything the world could throw at him.

“Yeah. We’re in it together for ever and ever, Believe it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, what do you think of Arashi and Hoka? (I'm so sorry it's a cliffhanger, I just was really wanted to post this and it was getting long anyway)  
Okay, many things:  
\- I have chosen to interpret Naruto's "dattebayo" as a nonsense verbal tick, and he'll be adding "ya'know" in when Shimome kinda inadvertently starts to teach him English, but he still will be using the phrase "Believe it!" for emphasis when it is applicable.  
\- The Hokage is not actually bad. Remember, this is from the POV of a still very not okay ghost who sees any and everything that makes Naruto even sad as The Enemy^tm, and also both Naruto and Shimome still don't know the whole stories. like, as much as they are attached to each other, they still haven't told each other everything (Shimome bc he doesn't wanna explain the whole reincarnation thing or the ghost thing or the obsession thing- you get it. Naruto bc Kurama is telling him to at least keep quiet about him [Kurama], but that means there's a lot more he can't tell Shimome bc Kurama told him about it)  
\- Yeah, Sorry Shimome. There are a lot of consequences to suppressing half of your self like that. Part of this story is that I'm trying not to gloss over the grieving process too much (though sometimes that makes my writing take longer bc I want to make sure it's not just angst).  
-Funner Note: One of my absolutely favorite pieces to use for Danny Phantom inspiration:  
https://lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks.tumblr.com/post/110434660762/i-absolutely-adore-that-headcanon-that-went-around  
-Minor, not really needed note: Why do I do this to myself. I have so many small children I want to write, and, like, six of them are OC's and I'm already weak at dialogue, why do I create an ensemble cast. Why.  
\- Related to last note: Why do I attempt to write polite or political dialogue. I have no idea what I'm doing.


End file.
